THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume V, Issue # 55, March 14, 2003
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
LIBERAL ARGUMENTS AGAINST WAR WITH IRAQ:
DO LIBERALS DO ANY SERIOUS THINKING
BEFORE THEY SPEAK & WRITE?
By Paul Walfield
In the March 10, 2003, issue of Newsweek, Anna Quindlen, in her article entitled, "Waiting, One Hand Behind," argues that President Bush has reduced what was once a noble and democratic nation to "despotic hyperbole," that the President has "come perilously close to lowering the rhetorical standards of a democratic nation to the level of despotic hyperbole."
Ms. Quindlen reached that conclusion because she still hasn't been able to figure out why we are claiming that it is necessary to go to war with Iraq. Speaking about herself and her father, she says, "We are waiting, both of us, for some good reason for a great nation--because it is that, despite all its shortcomings--to make the real argument, the irrefutable argument, the aha! argument for invading Iraq."
However, she adds, "Saddam Hussein is a murderous dictator. Check. Saddam has made a mockery of the inspections process. Check. He either has developed or is in- clined to develop weapons of mass destruction. Check. No world leader has ever so clearly asked to be punished by the world community."
Ok, she has a handle on the evil that is Saddam. She understands that he has violated the United Nations resolutions, including 1441, which calls for military action in the event he makes "a mockery of the inspection process," and she knows that Saddam has weap- ons of mass destruction. She also has to know, she really does, that America went to war against Saddam back in 1991 and he really doesn't like the U.S.A..
So, if Anna knows about Saddam, she in fact agrees with what President Bush has been saying about the despot for a year now. So what is the problem? Why does she and her dad not understand why nearly 3 out of 4 Americans, according to the latest poll, want to use U.S. and allied military force eliminate the threat Saddam poses? Well., because.
That's it. No good reason to be found at all. Anna just seems to adhere to the notion that she will not be dissuaded, not even by her own understanding and knowledge of the facts, to change her opinion of what is best for herself and her dad.
What does that say about Liberals?
Anna has decided that, while everything that the President has said about Saddam is true, that does not matter because "George W. Bush appears to be a man who takes slights seriously and responds pugnaciously, a guy who holds a grudge." For Anna, Sad- dam is bad man, but so is George Bush. Saddam is bad because he gasses and murders his own people, tortures and rapes his enemies and has associated with terrorists, and, if given the chance, he will supply weapons of mass destruction to suicide bombers. How- ever, we should do nothing because President Bush, Anna believes, "responds pugna- ciously."
Think about that. our President responds to evil by wanting to fight it. That is reason enough for the Left to oppose his administration.
To prove her point, Anna has an example that she says explains the moral equivalency of President Bush to the evil ones. She quotes President Bush: "There's an old poster out West, as I recall, that said, 'WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE.'" Anna adds that was what our President "Said of Osama bin Laden after the terrorist attacks. Wyatt Earp in the White House."
In other words, after September 11, 2001, and over three thousand Americans were murdered by Osama bin Laden's terrorist organization, Anna believes that President Bush is as evil as the terrorists because he wants to take out the terrorists that want to murder Americans and destroy our way of life.
Anna believes Saddam is a vile individual, but cannot be forcibly removed. Saddam may cause terror and horror for all his populace and neighbors, and maybe even the United States of America, but using violence to stop violence is never the answer for Anna and her ilk. As she points out, "A professor of mine once said, 'Democracy fights its battles with one hand tied behind its back.'" In other words, even if we went to a war she ap- proved of, she needs to make sure there are just as many dead Americans as there are enemy dead.
Anna wants to believe she lives in a country that is above the evils that threaten it. Anna wonders about world affairs and the place where America fits, and where she fits too. She says: "The danger in having enormous power is that the ambition to use it for good can so often be subverted by the temptation to use it for dominance. The leader who oc- cupies the high ground, or the bully wearing blinders: I am waiting to see to which nation I belong."
For Anna and her Left-of-Center friends, America's determination to remain a superpow- er by fighting against the evils that threaten American sovereignty is not self-defense; it is an act of aggression, an act of "dominance."
It is not that these people do not see the threats to American power and stability; they welcome the threats as wholesome challenges. These people are no longer trying to maintain a sense of nationalism (or national loyalty and patriotism). Rather, they are ultra-internationalists who see Americans and other peoples as citizens of the world. They are "One Worlders" who do not place high value on American national sovereignty and independence, on American willingness to fight the evil the world--their world--faces.
The evil America faces comes from the terrorists and from the evil political regimes that harbor, supply, and support terrorists. It also comes from those who claim that, on "mor- al" and "politically correct" grounds, fighting the terrorists and malevolent regimes must not to be undertaken, that we should not go to war to protect and defend America's vital national interests and ensure our survival as a free and constitutional democratic nation.
There can be no greater support for your enemy than to fight along their side.
Someone can be against a war and voice that opinion without getting in the way and still be thought of as an American.
On the other hand, if you are against a war, and you do your utmost to stop your own country from fighting against an evil that seeks its destruction, you are not an American. Rather than being a loyal and patriotic American, you are a traitor!
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Liberals, Statists, Socialists, & Other Leftists
The Middle East & the Problem of Iraq
Page Two
Page One
The Problem of Rogue States:
Iraq as a Case History
The Middle East & the Arabs
Islamism & Jihadism -- The Threat of Radical Islam
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
War & Peace in the Real World
Page Two
Page One
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
U.S. National Security Strategy
Paul Walfield is a freelance writer and member of the State Bar of California, with an undergraduate degree in Psychology and post-graduate study in behavioral and analyt- ical psychology. He resided for a number of years in the small town of Houlton, Maine, and is now a California attorney. His articles appear in numerous periodicals and on numerous websites. CONTACT INFORMATION: Email: paul.walfield@cox.net
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Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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