Why Oppose a War in Iraq?
In an intelligent analysis of the Left's responses to September 11th in the Nation, Adam Shatz writes:
Why does the left oppose war on Iraq? Do we oppose it because the US government's reasons for going to war are always deceitful, or because the United States has no right to unseat foreign governments that haven't attacked us first, or because this war is ill-timed and is likely to backfire? Do we oppose it because it's unilateral and illegal under international law, or because the American government has failed to put forward a coherent vision of Iraq after Saddam?
It’s interesting that in listing all of these perfectly reasonable objections, Shatz leaves out the one that even non-Lefties could agree with: because attacking Iraq – even successfully – won’t make America one bit safer from terrorist attacks!
Whatever the real reason for picking a fight with Saddam right now, it’s not about fighting the known terrorist threat posed by Al Quaida. And after re-living the events of last September, who among us believes that should not be our unambiguous priority until the networks and their ideology of hate have been destroyed? In the face of enemies with a metaphysical desire to annihilate our society, why waste so much money, lives and international good will confronting a petty tyrant whose hostility to the United States is based in mere regional power politics? That’s the question, and if anyone can manage to ask it in even tones, without Lefty moral posturing about imperialism and international law, you might begin to see broad-based opposition to the war rooted in good old American practicality and common sense.
10:26:01 PM 
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