U.S. must behave like a world leader
| • | More local talk on war |
By F.P. Gustavson
Our country recently celebrated the birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.
Each recognized that in order to retain our basic rights (and those of others), we must make difficult decisions and take responsible actions.
F.P. "Gus" Gustavson, a retired admiral, is a management consultant.
During the past century, our country went to war on five occasions (not counting the Cold War or brief actions such as those that occurred in Grenada, Libya and Panama). Each time, the United States sought to protect basic rights and force countries to behave in a responsible manner. The outcome of this global leadership has made us a target of envy or hatred, depending on your point of view.
We must continue to behave like a leader.
• We ended Operation Desert Storm against Iraq after we ousted Saddam Hussein's forces from Kuwait and destroyed much of his military might. We agreed to leave him in power because he agreed to abandon his weapons of mass destruction and change his ways. United Nations inspections have proved he has done nothing of the kind.
• He has attacked and murdered his own people, taken food out of their mouths through misuse of the Food for Oil program, and he threw U.N. inspectors out of the country when they found proof of chemical and biological weapons. We have tolerated this for 10 years, and he continues to make a mockery of the U.N. inspection process that some members of the Security Council are trying to extend.
So is it time for war? Having spent 30 years serving our country in the Cold War, I am very averse to war. That said, I am convinced that Iraq has significant chemical and biological weapons, even more so after seeing Secretary of State Colin Powell's presentation to the U.N. Security Council. We will have to use force to make Saddam give them up and comply with U.N. mandates.
It will never get easier than now and, in fact, will be much harder if Saddam starts providing these weapons to other countries and terrorist organizations.
We also have the support of our allies. Despite the opposition of France and Germany, 18 European heads of state have gone on record as supporting our position.
Many of these states remember oppressive governments and understand that the only path forward is the disarmament of rogue states. Allies in Southwest Asia, who have much to lose with Saddam as their neighbor, have pledged their support.
So let us take on our responsibility as a world leader and resolve this situation. The right path forward is to disarm Iraq, and if Saddam goes out as a result, so be it.
In the words of Mark Twain: "Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest."
