Support Peace (3/20/03)

by Dean Hartwell

The bombs had hardly started falling in Iraq before our national leaders voted for a resolution to "support the troops." Even the politicians most staunchly against taking military action have signed on to this mantra.

One problem with a blanket statement about support for the troops is that it conveys no real meaning. These troops don't make policy - they instead follow orders from the chain-in-command. Everyone wishes them well and hopes they will come back safely.

Calling for support for the troops also deflects attention from the question of whether we ought to support the ones making the decisions. Specifically, it overlooks the one person who could put a stop to this war in an instant, President Bush.

Instead of repeating this mantra, we ought to question support for the policy of fighting Iraq. This nation has never attacked us nor is there any credible proof that it supports Al-Qaeda or had anything to do with the tragedy of September 11th. Many Iraqi civilians will lose their lives in this conflict.

The "Bush Doctrine" of taking a preemptive strike, which drives the current events in Iraq, will backfire on us someday. According to the Doctrine, a nation has justification to invade a nation it believes to be hostile and which will eventually use weapons of mass destruction. The latter nation fits the United States perfectly at this moment.

It is time to atop associating the value of the war with the courage of the troops. We instead ought to value our own rights and our own concerns for the future we are creating. Instead of pledging support for the troops, we ought to pledge to support a world in which we can all live in peace.