Actually, much of the world needed a lot of convincing. Not necessarily that we had a legitimate right to "get" bin Laden, but how we should go about it, whether we were justified in attacking the Taliban as well, whether we were callous bullies for putting the Afhan people at risk (of bombs as well as starvation in the coming brutal winter), and whether we, the American people and its leadership, had the conviction, the courage and, importantly, the objectivity to conduct this war in a just manner.
In other words, would we lash out in anger, punish the innocent, claim victory, and walk away from the problems of the world as our last President might have been expected to do?
Well, so far, so good.
In spite of all the pundits' second-guessing and hand-wringing over quagmire one day, too fast the next, there have been very few errors and gaffs. Bush is saying and doing all the right things and I think the rest of the world is pleasantly surprised and increasingly confident that we will do this right.
As for whether we should "get Saddam", I don't see it as a choice between letting him off the hook or blasting his ass to hell. Those who want the latter would have us believe anything less equates to the former. Not true.
We can work toward peace between Israel and the Palestinians, while also keeping a tight rein on Saddam. With our newfound confidence and a sense of even-handedness (and behavior to match), we will have the world's support in putting him on notice that we will not tolerate threats from him, either direct or indirect (by supporting terrorists), against us, our allies, other states in the region, or the peace process. We should do what we can to take the burden off of the people of Iraq, but keep the pressure on his regime.
As we build better friendships in the region and as the Iraqi people start to see us as a fair-minded nation and not the "great Satan", support for Saddam will evaporate.
Tyrants need their people to perceive an external enemy. It empowers them in their tyranny over their own people. Without it, they lose internal support. The people see their own suffering (economic or political) and can only blame the tyrant. Eventually, the tyrant falls. |
