President Bush's speech Monday evening on how the United States should deal with the Iraqi threat made it clear that he is more than willing to use U.S. force should the Iraqi regime continue to develop nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.
Unfortunately, Bush's address did little more than he has done in the last 13 months. He has told us to be outraged, but has not told us why. To paraphrase the words of William Shakespeare'his is a tale of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
There is no question Bush is ready and willing to go to war with Iraq. His position has been apparent for the past year, and Monday's address brought no new ideas to the table. Where Bush has failed in the past and again failed Monday is in the area of specifics.
If Iraq has these weapons of course they should be dealt with, and with force if necessary. Bush's speech however did not draw the necessary ties to terrorism, did not present reasonable proof of weapons and did not demonstrate Iraq posing a serious threat to global security. Rather than looking at uncertainty as a reason to \shoot first, ask questions later"" we should be taking this opportunity to gather support and follow the book so in the end we have the moral high ground if we must go to war.
The kicker in the whole scenario is that diplomacy has been working.
Bush wanted weapons inspections, Iraq gave him weapons inspections. He wanted discussions to be held on the nature of inspections, Iraq participated in discussions. He wanted them to start soon, and they would be in the initial early implementation stages if the United States was not blocking them.
Faced with an overwhelming willingness by his ""enemy"" to give into his demands, Bush is grasping for straws.
The joint resolution presented by the United States and Great Britain in the U.N. Security Council seeks such measures as access to all documents, all buildings and U.S. military forces on the ground. There is no nation that would accept a former enemy who has been threatening to overthrow their country total access without resistance.
There is no rationale for war, at least that Bush has presented to us and the world. Until Bush makes a clear, defined case he will continue to fail in the court of world and national opinion. Saying Iraq is a threat is one thing, proving it is will be the deciding point in whether Bush carries legitimacy in a use of force.
