Across the nation and world this past weekend those opposed to President Bush’s drive towards war with Iraq gathered in rallies, marches and vigils. Their tactics were different, but their message was clear: the world will not stand by silently as the United States picks a fight simply because it can.
The war drums have been beating in Washington for months. The Bush team has sent representatives before the U.N. Security Council repeatedly – and still no real case for war has been made.
If Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction, that is worrying. But is it as worrying as the fact that North Korea not only has such weapons but possibly even the ability to deliver them to U.S. targets? Is it as worrying as the inability of allied forces to locate Osama bin Laden?
The White House loves to raise the specter of a nuclear-capable Iraq providing weapons to terrorist organizations like al-Qaeda, but has yet to establish any discernible connection between the fundamentalist terrorist organization and Hussein’s secular regime.
The administration has tried to convince our allies that this war against Iraq is necessary for the security of the Western world and has failed. France and Germany, two nations not historically known for their capacity to agree with one another, remain unconvinced. The British were with us from the beginning and remain so today, but in the European Union they stand all but alone in their support for Bush’s agenda.
The French and Germans, along with the anti-war protesters, see through the White House’s propaganda. They see that this war is merely an attempt by the White House to redirect American angst away from the thorny and hard-to-defeat al-Qaeda network towards a more easily crushed opponent. Hussein may be evil, but he’s done nothing recently to warrant this sort of assault.
And until the Bush administration shows that he has and makes clear the threat he theoretically presents, they will fail to make the case for this war. And so the Ed Board must stand with France, Germany and the anti-war protesters in decrying the White House’s plans.
This war is wrong. This war is immoral. Unilateral action without the consent of the United Nations violates every post-World War II precedent in American history. The Ed Board cannot countenance this conflict. All we can do is condemn it and pray that calmer heads prevail before the midnight hour arrives.
