Editorial: As war approaches...

The Capital, Annapolis, Md. ^ | 03-19-03 | Editorial Staff

[BobP]

We're not going into this war lightly, or frivolously, or with a feeling of vainglorious invulnerability. And that's for the best.

All we can do now is put aside partisan differences, stay alert here at home, and pray for our young men and women who, almost certainly, will soon be in harm's way.

[BobP]

Our say: As war approaches, we must
stay alert, pray for our troops

By THE CAPITAL EDITORIAL BOARD
THE ANNAPOLIS CAPITAL

"AMERICANS," PRESIDENT Bush said Monday night, "understand the costs of conflict because we have paid them in the past. War has no certainty except the certainty of sacrifice."

War involves risking one of the most precious things we have: the lives of our young men and women. So it should never be undertaken except to preserve something even more precious: the freedom and security of this nation. War should never be undertaken lightly or frivolously.

As this is written, we are most likely only days away from war -- perhaps hours. Anyone who wanted a concise and sober explanation of why we are in this position needed only to listen to President Bush Monday night.

As a condition of the cease-fire that ended the Persian Gulf War in 1991, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein pledged to give up all his weapons of mass destruction: his chemical weapons, his biological toxins, his nuclear program. He has reneged on that pledge for a dozen years now. He tossed U.N. weapons inspectors out of his country, then agreed to let them back in for another round of hide-and-go-seek only when it became obvious America was preparing to use force against him.

He wants to keep playing games -- delay, obfuscate, evade -- until he has accumulated a substantial arsenal. Then, his record shows, he'll use it, either for blackmail or for mass murder. He'll use it against his own people, his neighbors -- or us. And no responsible American president -- especially after the 9-11 attacks -- can let Saddam follow this course.

"Before the day of horror can come," the president said Monday, "before it is too late to act, this danger will be removed. The United States of America has the sovereign authority to use force in assuring its own national security. That duty falls to me as commander in chief by the oath I have sworn, by the oath I will keep."

There has been no "rush to war" -- just a long, slow, nerve-wracking plod, during which the majority of Americans backed the president.

In addition to the risk to our armed forces, war brings the risk that Saddam's operatives or terrorist allies will try an act of mass destruction or slaughter against American civilians, at home or abroad. That's a daunting risk -- but no one has explained how waiting a few more months or years, and letting Saddam try to manufacture or purchase more weapons, will reduce that risk.

We're not going into this war lightly, or frivolously, or with a feeling of vainglorious invulnerability. And that's for the best. All we can do now is put aside partisan differences, stay alert here at home, and pray for our young men and women who, almost certainly, will soon be in harm's way.

Published March 19, 2003, The Capital, Annapolis, Md.
Copyright © 2003 The Capital, Annapolis, Md.