War with Iraq Conservative Voice

Author: Sam Rodriguez

I find it pretty amusing that I am writing an article for the "Conservative Voice" column, as it is typically the column of the Middlebury Republicans. I am a Democrat, and plan to remain one for life. That said, I am currently in full support of taking action against Saddam Hussein. Thus, on this campus, that makes my voice conservative.
First we must recognize that the coalition has Hussein's head in a vice. Why? He could really only hurt our troops by using chemical weapons, biological weapons or worse. By doing so, he would demonstrate to the entire world community that this war is just. Given the current political climate, France, Germany, Russia and China would have to join our coalition immediately. Thus, the war would be sanctioned by the U.N.
Those of you in opposition to this war might say, "We don't even know whether or not he has those weapons. What if he doesn't? All those people would have died in vain." We know that the man has chemical weapons. Firstly, we know that he has those weapons, as Colin Powell clearly demonstrated that the Iraqis have been systematically hiding things from inspectors. That much is clear.
Furthermore, we know that he has such weapons, because several years ago we gave them to him. That was a mistake. It was a mistake because, first of all, those weapons are absolutely inhumane, and no country should be armed with such weapons. It was also a mistake because we did not realize that Hussein was, for lack of a better term, a nutcase. For instance, we did not know he would use them to attack his own people.
Also, some of you might say "Isn't it horrible that we aren't cooperating with the U.N.? This war is illegal! We're international criminals!" First of all, I would direct you to The Middlebury Campus archives. Please read Bryan Goldberg's article ("U.N. Risks Losing its Relevancy," The Middlebury Campus, March 12, 2003) about the embarrassingly anachronistic institutions of the U.N. Even if the U.N. reformed those institutions, we must recognize that international law is entirely different from domestic law. Why? There is an obvious difference between the U.S. Constitution and the U.N Charter. Social contracts, such as our Constitution, were formed out of necessity by free individuals for the preservation of society.
Contracts, such as the U.N. charter, were formed by sovereign nation-states out of convenience for the sake of enjoying a forum to discuss international affairs. There's a big difference between necessity and convenience. We cannot sacrifice necessity, whereas we can sacrifice convenience for the sake of necessity. Until the international political climate is such that our U.N. Charter is as necessary as our own Constitution, we must recognize international law and domestic law as entirely distinct. Besides, from the perspective of countries like France, the convenience of maintaining an international forum, such as the U.N., is so great that the U.N. will ultimately remain intact.
By engaging in this war without a U.N. sanction, are we really sacrificing convenience for the sake of a "necessity?" Although I believe the answer to the question is yes, I recognize that this question is entirely debatable. First of all, it is a preventive strike. This is precedented. Former Secretary of State Elihu Root proclaimed the following: "the right of every sovereign state to protect itself by preventing a condition of affairs in which it will be too late to protect itself." Hussein hates us. His was the only regime to applaud the Sept. 11 attacks.
We cannot allow Iraq to become another North Korea. North Korea has our head in a vice because they have nukes. Some others might also oppose the war, because it is a humanitarian effort, in which we will sacrifice the lives of U.S. soldiers for the sake of non-citizens. As I said, I think this war will protect our citizens.
That said, citizens or non-citizens, these are human beings. As Emerson said in "History," we must consider our fellow human beings our proxies. Would you not want to be rescued from a tyrannical regime that tortures political dissidents? I sure would. The Iraqi people are a downtrodden people, and they see no end in sight to Hussein's tyranny. We are providing the means to that end.

Sam Rodriguez is a junior
history major from Germantown, Tenn.