2008 Woodie Awards
Wow. My thoughts exactly:
Much of the antiwar initiative was taken by left-wing groupuscules who cannot find it in their hearts to find fault with Saddam Hussein; who consider the no-fly zones that afford some protection to Kurds and Shiites illegitimate; who for that matter think the military action in Afghanistan illegitimate, and whose essential views amount to: U. S. out of everywhere, on principle. These Old Left remnants cherish their own version of bulldozer politics. That limits their potential—not just against the Iraq war, but against others that might well be in the offing as the Bush doctrine comes into play in the years to come . . .
This from the former president of SDS, and I think it’s right on. I sort of bit my tongue about it, but I have been profoundly disturbed by the way many progressives seem unable to distinguish between rotten, bad wars- like the one in Iraq, and situations where America should be using its military power to uphold basic human rights standards where they happen to be in profound jeopardy.
Saddam Hussein was a bad dictator, no doubt. But when America went to war against Iraq, Saddam wasn’t a genocidal dictator. Yes, yes, I know: the Kurds. But he wasn’t committing any sort of genocide against them in 2003. And furthermore, as Matt prudently reminds us, we did not go to war because Saddam was a bad dictator. The administration only started talking about ‘democracy promotion’ when they couldn’t find any WMDs- the original justification, and the one they need to be held accountable for lying about.
At the same time as America fights a very wrong war in Iraq, a genocide of mass proportions is occurring in Sudan. I have argued before that America and its allies should use their military power- through a UN mission, I would hope- to stop the murders. The genocide in Darfur represents the most profound violation of the human rights provisions at our contemporary moment. At the same time, it’s clear that no amount of negotiation with the government of Sudan will stop them from aiding the Janjaweed rebels committing the genocide.
Intervening in Sudan isn’t about ‘democracy promotion,’ nor do America and other military powers have anything to gain economically or politically from such a move. But we all do have something to lose morally. After Rwanda, the world said ‘never again.’ ‘Never again’ is happening right now in Darfur, and nobody is stepping up to defend the humanity of individuals- which is what is under assault in Darfur- against the brutality of a racist, fascist government that has no respect for international law. Liberals often talk about the fact that the Iraq war was illegal under international law, and some say that those who waged it should be prosecuted for violating it. How about the individuals responsible for the Darfur murders? Why have we not singled them out?
I know, however, that many on the Left would reflexively oppose such a war. They would be very much in the wrong- and betray everything that progressives are supposed to stand for.
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