The waiting and dread are
over, and we have begun the war. And even if you believe that it is justified
and moral, this is a time for mourning: for the soldiers and civilians who are dying,
for the terrified Iraqis experiencing “Precision Shock” in Baghdad. For the
people of Basra, where the Red Cross says destruction and water shortages
threaten a “humanitarian crisis.” For the Kurds in northern Iraq, waiting to
see whether we will abandon them once again.
                 For those of us opposed to the war, this is also a
time to mourn the failure of diplomacy, the weakening of the United Nations,
the sullying of the nation’s character.
                 We have invaded another country. The declared
purpose: to remove the leader of that country — something that our laws
forbid even the CIA to do.
                 The issue is not whether Saddam Hussein is a brutal
tyrant who kills and terrorizes his own people. He is, and he does. The issue
is what we do about him, and with whom. (Nor is Saddam the only brutal tyrant
who kills and terrorizes his own people. What do we do about those other
tyrants, and with whom?)
                 We have the military power to do whatever we want,
wherever we want. The nations of the world, large and small, democratic and
rogue, know that. And now they know that we will exercise that power when the
notion strikes us.
                 This war brings an enormous financial cost, one
that will further weaken the economy and emasculate educational and social
programs at home. But even if that were not the case, the posture we now
assume, and the example we have set, will have great consequences in the world,
for generations.
                 This war was not forced on us. It was sought —
for years — by members of the Bush administration and other arch-conservatives.
They have had their way at last. And among the many dangers is that if this war
“goes well,” to use the awful, current terminology, they will push their
doctrine of preemption into Iran, North Korea, and Syria. You can hardly pick
up a newspaper or news magazine these days without reading about the
conservatives’ intentions. Iraq, they are bragging, is just the beginning.
                 The marine who raised the American flag in Umm Qasr
last week may have simply over-reacted after a successful, dangerous mission.
And the flag was soon ordered down. But that flag-raising should promote some
soul-searching among the war’s supporters. Is
this a war to liberate an oppressed people from a vicious tyrant? Or is it something
more? Will the country belong to the Iraqi people, once they’re liberated? If
so, when? Under what circumstances? Under whose design?
                 The waiting and dread are over, and the war has
begun. For the moment, all many of us can do is weep for the victims, and pray
that the terror and carnage end soon. But for those of us opposed to the war,
there is yet another obligation: to bear witness to the pain and suffering of
those in the midst of the battle, and to the terrible significance of the
United States’ new policy of pre-emption.
This article appears in Mar 26 – Apr 1, 2003.
