James Taranto, on to…

James Taranto, on today’s “Best of the Web Today” column, reminds us of recent history:

It’s a misconception that the decision now facing America and the U.N. is whether to go to war with Iraq. The U.S. and the U.N. are already at war with Iraq, and they have been for 12 years. There was no surrender or peace treaty that ended the Gulf War; instead, the allies accepted a ceasefire predicated upon Iraq’s compliance with a series of demands, embodied in various U.N. resolutions, concerning disarmament, human rights, sanctions, reparations to Kuwait, repatriation of war criminals, etc. These restrictions are supposed to be temporary: Baghdad’s compliance was to restore both peace and Iraq’s sovereignty.

This speaks directly to the smear by some anti-war pundits that Bush Jr. is trying to exact revenge on Hussein for thumbing his nose at Bush Sr.’s conditions. This is further pointed out each time there’s an attack on coalition forces patrolling the no-fly zones. We’re still at war, folks. And the only reason we are is that Hussein won’t comply with the conditions of the ceasefire.

So, if you’re anti-war, you’re 12 years too late. Get out of the way and let the good guys enforce the peace the way it was agreed it would be done by the international community, even if the international community has forgotten what they decided last year (or last decade), and even if it has to be done by force. (And no, that’s not an oxymoron. A peace or ceasefire treaty has to have teeth or it’s not worth the paper it’s written on.)

Filed under: Uncategorized

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!