By acting alone, Bush hurts world relations
By Daily Bruin Staff
May 12, 2003 9:00 p.m.
Solomon Matsas’ submission, “World
conflicts have moral ambiguity” (April 30) is itself
ambiguous. Its content is too vague to make a solid, rational
argument for any cause.
He begins by discussing his own confusion regarding moral
arguments for and against the war on Iraq and halfway through
mentions Sept. 11, 2001, instigating a surge of patriotism that
carries him through the rest of the submission. It symbolizes the
mentality of the majority of our country: Any moral questions
regarding pre-emptive strikes on a defenseless, developing nations
are simply swept under the rug due to the emotional remains from
the attack on the World Trade Center. Matsas concludes his
emotional outpouring by insisting we must “ask questions of
the left,” yet fails to propose any questions for the
right.
The Democrats themselves are asking some extremely difficult
questions. For example, is Iraq better off now that Saddam
Hussein has been removed when thousands of civilians have fallen
victim to casualty and the United States has caused millions of
dollars worth of damage? Did we attack Iraq mainly for the
capitalist incentive of obtaining its great wealth of oil, and, if
so, is this action morally justified? And, most importantly, what
will be the future of the world, which rests heavily in the hands
of the United Nations and NATO?
Most Democrats agree that President Bush and his
neo-conservative advisors, such as Dick Cheney and Donald
Rumsfield, should have made a stronger effort to collaborate with
the United Nations before initiating war.
Democrats find it difficult to argue with the fact that
Bush’s determination to remove Hussein in an almost
solo-American effort stems from his desire to control Iraq’s
postwar reconstruction, so that American corporations can alone
enjoy the spoils of war. While this may seem beneficial to the
United States, this will cause serious harm to our country in the
long run.
The Bush administration’s international policies have
endangered NATO and weakened the United Nations, which was
established by the United States after World War II to ensure
international peace. This will make it extremely difficult for the
United States to secure the United Nations’ help in
reconstructing Iraq and stabilizing the Middle East and other
dangerous areas, such as North Korea. In addition, the United
States has still failed to establish conclusive evidence that Iraq
harbors terrorists or possesses weapons of mass destruction.
In addition to his unwillingness to collaborate with other
countries to “liberate” Iraq, Bush has made the United
States the only industrialized nation not to sign the Kyoto treaty
““ an agreement mandating regulations on environmental
control. What’s more, Bush declined to participate in the
Earth Summit, a meeting which addressed international
environmental, economic and social issues. Earth Summit was
attended by 100 heads of states, including Jacques Chirac, Gerhard
Schroeder of Germany and Vincente Fox. Bush is even reluctant to
sign the United Nation’s Convention to Eliminate All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women, a treaty ratified by nearly every
other nation in the world. In addition, Bush refuses to pledge
support to the International Criminal Court, because his policies
break international laws proposed by our European counterparts.
Worldwide opinion of U.S. policy has declined drastically since
Bush has been in power. The United Nations has recognized the
United States’ miserable track record, which has lost our
country a spot in the U.N. Human Rights Commission. Matsas
insists both the left and right “display hypocrisy and
self-serving, morally oblique justifications,” yet all
Democrats agree on several things: Bush has done enough to harm our
relations with other countries, multilateralism in international
affairs must be preserved, the United Nations needs to be
strengthened and NATO must be maintained.
While there certainly are justifications for using our resources
to protect all citizens of the world, we must be wary of
Bush’s hubris and the serious consequences of acting alone
without the support of our friends and allies.
Turbin is a third-year English student and the outreach director
of the Bruin Democrats.
