THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume VI, Issue # 125, June 14, 2004
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
THE MORAL COMPONENT OF AMERICAN WARS
By Alan Caruba
FULL STORY:
It took me awhile, but I finally realized that all the hand wringing and outcry about the abuses at the Iraqi jail was about something much
greater in the minds of Americans. It was about the moral component of the way we wage war.
A clear juxtaposition to this was the way news of the decapitation of Nick Berg, an American citizen, was greeted with horror, but also the
unspoken recognition that the enemy operates without any moral standards at all.
Actually, those who killed Berg -- and earlier, Daniel Pearl -- in this fashion were acting with complete consistency in terms of Islam.
Decapitating one’s enemy has a long history in Islam, going all the way back to its founder, Muhammad, who had six hundred adult males
in a single tribe killed in this fashion.
All kinds of barbaric acts are described in the Koran. Islam, a religion which essentially says, “You are either a Muslim or you don’t
have a right to live…except under Muslim rule,” is not, as some say, displaying its “fundamentalist” side. There is no fundamentalist
aspect to Islam. Like other religions, Muslims worship with more or less intensity, but for the true believers, what you see is what you get.
And, yes, the Old Testament has accounts of warfare and the New Testament has the beheading of John the Baptist and the crucifixion of
Jesus, but Christianity has stopped fielding armies, while Islam is now actively into its Third Great Jihad. This is why it is killing people
around the world, soldiers and civilians alike.
Americans supported the war against Iraq because it was a war against Saddam Hussein. Having captured him, too many Americans think
that the war is “over” and American troops should come home. This is such an astonishingly stupid idea that it is easy to understand why,
when candidate John Kerry blithely accuses the Bush administration of having failed in its Iraq mission or says he would change the
mission in some fashion, he betrays his own failure to get, as they say, “the Big Picture.”
The Big Picture is that, yes, we wanted Saddam Hussein and his cronies out of power. Yes, we wanted to liberate the Iraqis. And, yes, we
want to turn over the governance of Iraq to Iraqis as quickly as possible.
But! We also invaded Iraq as a platform to bring about change, either militarily or diplomatically, to the entire Middle East and other
Muslim nations. Libya’s dictator, Muamar Quadaffi, is no dummy. He took one look at the transformation of Iraq and immediately
abandoned his weapons of mass destruction programs and sued for peace. Indeed, he did what, sooner or later, every one of the other
pestilent nations, such as Iran, Syria and even Saudi Arabia, will have to do in some fashion or other.
America invaded Iraq with the moral component and moral imperative of requiring the Middle East to accept what all other emerging
nations, hopeful for prosperity, have done. They have looked at the wealthiest nations of the world and seen that, if they want to share
that wealth, they have to accept the rule set of globalization. Even Red China has understood that, for the sake of economic growth, it
must cooperate with the most capitalistic of all nations, the United States of America. And it does!
That is why, when news broke of the activities of a very small group of soldiers in that Iraqi jail, the utter lack of morality revealed
appalled Americans -- and a lot of other people around the world. It is understood that we Americans conduct ourselves, even in war,
with a moral code that is endemic to our society and our view of a civil society.
This is the factor most frightening and most missing in the conduct of our enemy. We must not forget his predilection for suicide
bombings or terrorist attacks such as those in Spain, Bali, Turkey, Morocco and elsewhere, directed not against a military force, but against
innocent victims. And we must give them no quarter. They are not acting morally by any definition. We are.
We are now in Iraq and Afghanistan, staying on for the hardest part of any conflict, the securing of peace. To that end, we have asked
the most skilled warriors the world has ever seen to act as policemen, as providers of humanitarian services, and to protect the
construction needed to rebuild decrepit water and electricity systems.
What, in truth, we really need are two forms of military services. One to do the hard fighting and one to do the follow-up necessary to
securing the ultimate civil victory, a constitutional democratic nation to replace the despotism that oppresses its citizens.
This latter function, as important as the initial combat, reflects the moral component of the way Americans wage war. It is why we hold
our military to a higher standard than any other on earth.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
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
Alan Caruba is a veteran business and science writer, a Public Relations Counselor, Communications Director of the American Policy Center,
and Founder of the National Anxiety Center, a clearinghouse for information about media-driven scare campaigns. Caruba writes a weekly
column, "Warning Signs," posted on the Internet website of the National Anxiety Center
(www.anxietycenter.com). A compilation of his past columns, entitled Warning Signs, is published by Merril Press. In addition
to Warning Signs, Caruba is the author of A Pocket Guide to Militant Islam and The United Nations vs. the United States,
both of which are available from the National Anxiety Center, 9 Brookside Road, Maplewood, New Jersey, 07040.
Copyright 2004 Alan Caruba
Published with Permission of Alan Caruba
ACaruba@AOL.Com
Return to Top of Page
Go to the WEBSITE INDEX
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Public Issues & Political Controversies
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
Most Recent Articles
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Volume VI, 2004
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Subject Matter Highlights, Page Two
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Subject Matter Highlights, Page One
Return to POLITICAL EDUCATION Homepage
CONTACT & ACCESS INFORMATION
This is not a commercial website. The sole purpose of the website is to share with interested persons information regarding civics,
civic and social education, political science, government, politics, law, constitutional law and history, public policy, and political
philosophy and history, as well as current and recent political developments, public issues, and political controversies.
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Conservative & Free-Market Analysis of Government, Politics & Public Policy, Covering Political, Legal, Constitutional, Economic,
Cultural, Military, International, Strategic, & Geopolitical Issues
Government, Politics, Public Policy, Legal Issues, Constitutional Law, Government & the Economy, Cultural Values, Foreign Affairs,
International Relations, Military Defense & National Security, Geopolitics, Terrorism & Homeland Security, American National Interests,
Political Systems & Processes, Political Institutions, Political Ideologies, & Political Philosophy