Victor Davis Hanson answers questions of critics of his "Why We Must Stay in Iraq" article

victorhanson.com ^ | September 10, 2005 | Victor Davis Hanson

[Tolik]

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Stewartstown, Pa.: It seems to be that a central point has been left out of discussions about Iraq. The U.S. doesn't have a right to attack other nations and remove their leaders just because it thinks that doing so will make the world "better off." Other nations have a right to their governments — even if those governments are nondemocratic. The U.S. — and any other country — only has a right to attack a nation that poses a clear and direct threat. Iraq was not endangering the United States. Even if Saddam had WMDs, why would he use them against the U.S.? The Soviet Union was an enemy of the U.S., and had WMDs, but didn't use them.

Why do the rights of other nations never seem to be considered in U.S. foreign policy? If America can invade whatever nation it likes, why can't Germany, Japan, and others do the same?

Victor Davis Hanson: You too did not read carefully my other posts. Read the casus belli that the Senate passed. It included violations of the 1991 armistice accords, genocide, assassination attempts on a former U.S. president, links with terrorism (their writ not mine), etc. And read too the critique at the time: in October 2002 it was that Saddam did not have WMD (even the Left believed that), but that the Bush administration was using a "shot gun" approach and trying to throw too many reasons on the wall to see which would stick. The worry over WMD was not that he would attack the U.S. with Iraqi forces but twofold: 1) he had used them in the modern age, so had no moral qualms, 2) he was a host to terrorists, among them one who had tried to blow up the World Trade Center in 1993.

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[Tolik]

victorhanson.com is a MUST EXCERPT website. Follow the link to the complete transcript

The article in questions was posted here: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1477441/posts

[kellynla]

BTTT

[Tolik]

    Victor Davis Hanson Ping ! 

       Let me know if you want in or out

[Jeff Blogworthy]

PING

[Ol' Dan Tucker]

Read the casus belli that the Senate passed. It included violations of the 1991 armistice accords, genocide, assassination attempts on a former U.S. president, links with terrorism (their writ not mine), etc.

US Senate? Sheesh.

[ex-snook]

Hey he didn't mention the most important reason to stay in Iraq. Our being in Iraq makes us closer to invade China when that real war starts. Now what remains is to invade Iran and we will control the whole southern front. Plus our being in Korea makes China fight a two front war. Bring on those car bombs. Right?

[Tolik]

To his many critics I concede only one point: that the Bush Administration is very weak on communication. Granted, there is nothing they do or say can convince the Bush-haters. But they let the other side to pull too many people from the vast middle, they let opponents to go on and on with their shrill propaganda without contesting it. Yes it is an uphill battle against the MSM, but not fighting the ideological war is wrong.

[metesky]

The Professor told at least three of his detractors that they obviously hadn't even read what he had written. Very good.

[Yardstick]

*VDH Bump*

I think I see a typo:

"And read too the critique at the time: in October 2002 it [wasn't] that Saddam did not have WMD (even the Left believed that)"

[John Lenin]

First, we have radically cut relations back, most notably by withdrawing all 10,000 troops (something the Clinton administration never did). We are doing things already that are driving them crazy, from promoting democracy next door in Iraq, to encouraging reform in the other Gulf states, to pulling away from the Mubarak autocracy in Egypt, the center of Arab nationalism, to monitoring and dismantling Wahhabi charities, and finally to restricting visas and entry into the U.S. from Saudi Arabia. So the old corrupt calculus is ending. Can we do more? Maybe if we get an energy policy of conservation and more exploration, but even then we learn that China, India, and Europe have no scruples, far less than ours, in cozying up to the largest reserves of oil in the world.

bttt