We need to look at foreign policy differently
by James Simpson

Potomac News
Friday, December 19, 2003

Saddam has finally been captured.
Supposedly this will have one of two effects in Iraq. Hostilities will either settle down, as the proverbial snakes head has been chopped off? or, hostilities will increase in retaliation for his capture.

One interesting point I heard on Fox News this week - Saddam urged his followers to fight to their death and never surrender. However, he was captured without firing a single shot. I guess what is good for the goose is not necessarily good for the gander.

A debate that keeps popping up is whether or not we are legally engaged in the war with Iraq. Does the resolution authorized by Congress to hunt down terrorists, wherever they are found, cover our entry into Iraq? What evidence is sufficient to permit the President to send troops into a sovereign nation? Or, is the action in Iraq covered by the United Nations resolution carried over from operation Desert Storm - which was approved by Congress if I remember correctly.

The fact that Saddam was a tyrant who killed tens of thousands, as President Bush frequently points out, can't be used to justify the war unless we are ready to go after other nations throughout the world - not the least of which is China - and I don't think that is going to happen.

One of the unfortunate consequences of this "war" is that, similar to many other military actions in our past, it was never "formally" declared. Well, not in the traditional sense. Frankly, I don't feel comfortable sending our military into war without a formal declaration by Congress.

Regardless of what anyone thinks at this point, it is generally agreed that it would be disastrous for us to leave Iraq now. We saw what happened when we left Iraq during Gulf War I - the power structure left in place went berserk and killed all the people who wanted a change in leadership.

We left many people to hang - literally. The consequence of that decision was increased hatred of America and our failed international policies by those who had supported our original effort.

Two of the ongoing issues are the accuracy of the intelligence that pointed to weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) in Iraq and why Islamic extremists are so upset with the United States.

I have a question for readers: Is the hatred of America due to our freedom and success as a nation, or because of our interventionism in other nations' affairs, or because Islamic nations cannot peacefully coexist with Western Civilization and countries that are not based in Muslim theocracy?

Perhaps they hate us because we are threatening them with something more dangerous than anything they have encountered before - Democracy. I really don't know the answer to this question. All of the theories sound plausible.

The world is a much smaller place now. At some point in the past European nations that were strongly influenced by the Christian church, if not outright ruled by it, changed their ways and discontinued the practice of converting or killing others who did not have similar views. This has not happened in Middle Eastern Muslim nations. Many of their governments are still ruled by religious zealots who have extreme contempt for those who do not follow their faith.

As far as I am concerned we need to make two critical changes in the way we handle international relations:

? First we need to get out of the United Nations. The UN is made up of socialist and totalitarian countries. We are a sovereign, free nation, and should not be in league with a wannabe world government made up of states that do not support the freedoms endowed by our Creator and set forth for in the Constitution.

? Secondly we need to stop providing money, training and support to other nations, especially at taxpayer expense. This policy seems to frequently come back and bite us.

We helped Iraq and Afghanistan in the past and had those very resources used against us. The saying used to be "the enemy of my enemy is my friend," I believe today's version goes more like this: "my friend will be my enemy as soon as he gets what he wants out of me."

In closing I will leave you with a funny thought from Jon Stewart of Comedy Central's "Daily Show": "Saddam had 9 months and at least $750,000, yet the best disguise he could come up with is a beard and hiding in a dirt hole."

James Simpson lives in Lake Ridge.