By attacking a nation that has not attacked us and that does not pose an immediate threat to international peace and security, the Administration has violated the United Nations Charter and opened a new and shameful chapter in US history. . . To justify the war, the President has invoked the doctrine of "preventive" war, under which the United States is to be the sole judge of that doctrine's legitimacy and application. Thus, the war is about more than Iraq; it is about the character of our society and the international order in which we live. The Administration hopes that a quick victory will not only silence critics and confer an ex post facto legitimacy on the war but also give momentum to its larger political agenda. But even if there are minimal casualties and devastation, that will not justify overturning international norms developed over sixty years. Nor can it legitimize a worldview that will make Americans the target of international outrage and make the world less secure.
This is just about the sort of thing you would have read in 1937, had Winston Churchill been Prime Minister of Great Britain and decided to defeat the Nazi's before they ran roughshod over Europe.
In America, in the weeks and years ahead, this movement confronts several historic challenges. In the long term it must build an alternative foreign policy and sustain its dedication to a nonimperial future. In the short term it must organize to remove the Bush Administration from office and elect new leaders dedicated to international cooperation and peace.
Ah, but this is the thing that the left can never answer. What do thoughtful leaders do to foster cooperation and peace when tyrants like Saddam Hussein ignore 17 United Nations resolutions? Great Britain made this mistake once. France made this mistake twice. And the Nation Magazine is willing to make this mistake during every conflict right up until the time that an invading force is shutting down their printing press.
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