12/13/2002

Will a war with Iraq increase our safety?

Why are we threatening and bullying Iraq? Bush says that it is to stop Iraq's ability to "threaten America and the world with horrible poisons and diseases and gases and atomic weapons" and to "secure the peace" (speech at Cincinnati Museum Center, October 7th, 2002). In other words, to make America and the world safer. But will making Iraq disarm through the use of military force or threats of force really make us more secure in the long run? I don't believe it will. Certainly it will remove whatever immediate threat is posed by Iraq at the moment, but at the same time it will make the U.S. appear to be tyrannical and bullying. It will be used as evidence that we are anti-Arab, anti-Moslem, anti-third world etd. by anyone trying to distract themselves and those around them from their own problems. The rhetoric espoused by Bush and his administration is pushing America further in role of the big bad bully who can be blamed for almost any problem (like Russia used to be for America).

I do believe that we should do what we can to insure that Iraq does not use weapons of mass destruction on us or anywhere in the world, but I think that the current actions of the Bush administration will decrease our security in the long run and that we should look for other solutions to the problems posed by Iraq. At the very least we must give weapons inspectors a chance to work and we must listen to what the rest of the world thinks before attacking. If we truly have evidence that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction, we must reveal that evidence to allow other nations to judge its validity.

I urge that we strongly consider the long term implications of any action before we take it.

Ethan Strauss