Even if war is the likeliest option in the United States’
vendetta against Iraq, it still has to be the last option.
Secretary of State Colin Powell appeared before the United
Nations this week to present further evidence Iraq may be harboring
substances and technology for weapons of mass destruction. Powell
showed satellite photographs, played recorded conversations between
high ranking Iraqi officials and read statements from informants
about suspicious weapons-material-related activity.
Regardless, only Great Britain continues to grant the United
States unconditional support for a potential attack on Baghdad. The
other permanent members of the Security Council ““ China,
France and Russia ““ remain stringent about the United States
presenting more convincing cause for action. China’s foreign
minister best articulates the reasons for their reluctance in
saying that “as long as there is still the slightest hope for
political settlement, we should exert our utmost effort to achieve
that.”
That hope still exists. Bush and Powell have continuously,
albeit gradually, dispensed tidbits of information to the American
public and international community. But they have only done this
because of the international pressure placed on them by skeptical
security council members.
The international community’s job is to continue
scrutinizing Bush’s claims; the result to date has been that
Bush is at least trying to bring credibility to his points. A large
part of the reason why Bush even spoke before the United Nations at
all is because Powell pressured him into doing so rather than
attacking first.
Bush frequently calls on the United Nations to be skeptical of
Iraqi political shadiness when pressuring it to act quickly against
Hussein. The United Nations should listen to Bush, but they should
also be wary of shadiness from the president. By holding him to the
strictest of standards in demanding factual evidence, the United
Nations will prevent any rash action by the president under the
guise of “international cooperation.”
If the United States rushes into war without full U.N. support,
it will regret it in the future. Not only will this war make the
country seem uncooperative, unilateralist and totalitarian, it will
also cast a shadow of doubt over America during the war. If the
United States goes to war before all diplomacy is exhausted, its
citizens ““ especially those who will have loved ones killed
““ will always wonder whether a peaceful solution would have
been possible if the United States waited for the international
community to be on its side.