U.S.-blaming, anti-war left is morally bankrupt
I may be a liberal, but I'm also a believer in common sense. Most of the anti-war Left in this country could frankly benefit from a large helping of common sense. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you....
One of the most disturbing things about the attitude of those on the anti-war Left is their unspoken and yet almost visceral hatred of their homeland. Most of the rest of the world may think we're the "Bad Guy"- yet they watch our movies, buy our Nikes, and drink our Cokes. It seems fashionable to love all things American while hating the country that provides those same amenities. It's bad enough when that attitude emanates from Europe, but when it comes from those who are fortunate enough to carry American passports, something is horribly out of whack.
NION has issued a statement opposing war with Iraq that has been published in newspapers across the country. Those behind it include academics (including Harvard University's Richard Lewontin and Stanford University's Joel Beinin), entertainers (including John Cusack and Danny Glover), writers (including Russell Banks and Barbara Kingsolver) and aging 1960s radicals (Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden protesting together again!). They all reject what they call Bush's "simplistic script of `good versus evil.' " Instead, their simplistic script is about how all the world's horror flows from the United States.
The "brutal repercussions" of the administration's war on terror "have been felt from the Philippines to Palestine," the statement says. The Philippines? Apparently the signers are offended that the United States is providing military assistance to the Philippine government in its efforts to root out the Abu Sayyaf guerrillas. This is the Islamic terrorist organization that specializes in slaughtering Christians and beheading tourists.
The petition also deplores our war against the Taliban, which resulted in the liberation of Afghanistan from one of the world's most brutal regimes. Feminist Gloria Steinem, Vassar College President Frances D. Fergusson and Harvard women's studies director Juliet Schor have signed the petition. Are they troubled that Afghan girls can now leave their homes and go to school? That women are not publicly executed for such crimes as infidelity? That females can show their faces?
NIONists seem to have a special abhorrence for democracies. Besides the United States, the only other country that receives their opprobrium is Israel. Again, in some unexplained way, the administration's response to Sept. 11 has resulted in "Israeli tanks and bulldozers (leaving) a terrible trail of death and destruction." Never mind that Yasser Arafat walked away from a Camp David peace deal in 2000 to oversee his society's embrace of suicide bombing.
The petition has a blithe, even solipsistic view of human misery. The statement says, "Peoples and nations have the right to determine their own destiny, free from military coercion by great powers." Apparently Saddam Hussein's use of his military to determine his people's destiny is of no concern to the signers. NION has no references to Saddam's terror state, where political prisoners are persuaded to confess by seeing the eyes of their children being gouged out.
I hate it when Conservatives accuse liberals of being out of touch with reality, but in this case I have to agree wholeheartedly. Yes, we all want a world where war is not the answer, where evil is vanquished with good. The reality, though, is that Iraq does not live by the same rules that govern the rest of the civilized world. That alone does not make Iraq a threat, but in combination with nuclear, chemical and/or biological weapons, Iraq is very much a threat to the rest of the world.
I still have some profoundly mixed feelings about going to war against Iraq. I do understand, though, that sometimes evil must be met on it's own terms and defeated on it's own ground. If France and Germany want to play the Neville Chamberlain role, that is their choice (though you'd hope that they would have learned something from history). If it means we go to war alone, so be it. Sometimes one has to do what one knows is right, even if no one else shares that conviction.
If members of the anti-war Left want to go to Baghdad and act as human shields, so be it. It's their choice to place themselves in the line of fire. This conflict is about making the world a safer place for ourselves and our children. If you can't get behind that, that's OK. Just don't be whining and bitching about the country you are fortunate enough to call home. There are millions worldwide who would gladly trade places with you.
