Posted on: Thursday, March 20, 2003

EDITORIAL
Godspeed to military, but questions remain

America has stepped into a sobering and uncertain future today.

What had been, until the last moment — at least in theory — an "if" possibility is now suddenly and starkly real. We are at war, and our men and women in uniform are in harm's way.

Our first thoughts must go to those men and women who serve in our military. We hope with every ounce of our being that their work will go swiftly and well and that they will soon be safely home.

We also pray that our forces will be successful in their earnest efforts to root out a cruel and dangerous regime with as little harm as possible to the innocent people of Iraq. As President Bush said last night in his somber message to the nation, our fight is not with the people of Iraq, it is with a regime that poses so much danger to those people and to the rest of the world.

While our thoughts are obviously focused on this dramatic moment, we cannot help but think also that, with the formal launch of this pre-emptive war, our nation sets in motion historical trends that no one can truly fathom.

This invasion, by most accounts, will quickly succeed in its primary mission: the removal of Saddam Hussein and the disarmament of Iraq.

But it is not too soon to begin thinking about what comes next:

Is this the first of many pre-emptive strikes by the United States against threats, real or perceived, around the world? Do we have the stomach to accept the losses, in both blood and treasure, that are implied by such an agenda?

And what of Iraq? Now that we are there, we are likely to remain for a while. Will American taxpayers accept the financial burden of years of nation-building?

One immediate task will be to involve the United Nations in the rebuilding process as quickly and as fully as possible. After all, it is the world's future at stake, not just that of the United States.

Our invasion of Iraq must certainly send shudders of fear through two other nations that President Bush included in his "axis of evil" — Iran and North Korea.

How will these nations react? Is there any reason for them to assume they will not become the next targets of a pre-emptive war?

If a case could be made that Iraq under Saddam Hussein posed a threat to the security of the United States, it can certainly be made against North Korea under Kim Jong Il.

Our war against Iraq has been framed in the context of our larger war against terrorism around the globe. While a quick victory would surely eliminate one likely source of weapons of mass destruction for terrorists, it will not by any means eliminate the threat of terrorism.

Indeed, Islamic extremists will almost certainly use our war on Iraq as reason to step up their suicidal battle with the United States. Are we prepared to deal with the rise in anger to come in Palestine, elsewhere in the Middle East and in Islamic nations from Pakistan to Indonesia?

As the world's only remaining superpower, America has been called upon to shoulder a truly frightening and awesome burden. We can only pray we're up to the challenge.

And to the men and women who are on the front lines of that challenge, we can only say, Godspeed.