Friday, April 30, 2004
First do no harm
I'm often in favor of using foreign policy as a tool to do good in the world. I hate tyranny and oppression, and think powerful nations should do what they can to halt the abuse of human rights around the world. Sometimes, that means removing governments from power through invasion. But taking such a step carries great responsibility, and cannot be taken lightly. It takes honest goodwill, some degree of altruism, and a heap of competence. The US showed these when it intervened in the Balkans in the last decade, and failed to show them in Rwanda. Usually, our failures are failures of will. But the Bush administration has failed in all three categories. It will bring us all grief in the end, and these pictures are just one part of the process that will drag us, Iraq, and the Muslim world into years of conflict, hate, and mistrust. Your tax dollars at work (remember when it was "your money"?)
The next time you hear the Bush administration questioning the compassion, patriotism, or national security sensibilities of a war critic, remember that we critics have always been among the first to stand up for human rights, but declined to get on board the war bus because we knew that the Bushies wouldn't bring a new era to Iraq, but a sad, US-funded rerun of an old one.
The next time you hear the Bush administration questioning the compassion, patriotism, or national security sensibilities of a war critic, remember that we critics have always been among the first to stand up for human rights, but declined to get on board the war bus because we knew that the Bushies wouldn't bring a new era to Iraq, but a sad, US-funded rerun of an old one.
