Figure 1.--
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Figure 1.-- |
In the weeks leading up to the American-British invasion of Iraq there were mass demonstrations in Europe. Some were the largest demonstrations in recent memory. For the most part these demonstrations ocurred in Western Europe. The Eastern European recently freed from the Soviet yoke, largely through American containment and persistent pressure on the Soviet system, do not for the most part share in the Western European crticism of American action. The Western European objections are detailed above. Ameicans have been struck by the entensity of the feeling in Western Europe among people in democratic nations whom they have over the past half century viewed as trusted allies. Especially mistifying to Americans are vitriol being directed at President Bush. Given the crimes attributed to Saddam Hussein, many Americans cannot understand the ardour of the Western Europeans passions being directed at Bush and America. Perhaps the Europeans are morraly superior and correct in their assertions, but it is also possible that the Europeans are deluding themselves and suffering from moral hypocracy.
In the weeks leading up to the American-British invasion of Iraq there were mass demonstrations in Europe. Some were the largest demonstrations in recent memory. For the most part these demonstrations ocurred in Western Europe. The Eastern European recently freed from the Soviet yoke, largely through American containment and persistent pressure on the Soviet system, do not for the most part share in the Western European crticism of American action.
Ameicans have been struck by the entensity of the feeling in Western Europe among people in democratic nations whom they have over the past half century viewed as trusted allies. Especially mistifying to Americans are vitriol being directed at President Bush. Given the crimes attributed to Saddam Hussein, many Americans cannot understand the ardour of the Western Europeans passions being directed at Bush and America.
Perhaps the Europeans are morraly superior and correct in their assertions. The Wesern Europeans and a not inconsiderable number of Americans make a number of arguments in their opposition to the War with Iraq. The major comtentions are that war is evil and America just wants to control Iraq's oil. There are, however, a variety of other compalaints. Many of the sihns and much of the sentiment at the mass demonstrations are directed at President Bush personally. Perhaps the most powerful argument is the potential for adverse unitended
consequences. Europeans also insist that there are other evil regimes in the world, apparently believing inaction that a failure to contront all dictators is an argument against confronting one. Others point out the secukar nature of the Bathist regime which provides opportunities to women unheard of in some of the Arab states friendly to the United States like Saudi Arabia.
We believe that there are some other factors explaining in part the intensity of the Western European sentment being directed at American actions in Iraq. Much of it, in fact, may have nothing to do with Iraq. It is also possible that the Europeans are deluding themselves and suffering from moral hypocracy.
The debate over Iraq seems part of a widening gap forminh betweem America and Europe. Since President Roosevelt and Primeminister Churchill met on board the Prince of Wales in 1941 to enunciate the Atlantic Charter, the United States and Europe have been united in a common shared vision of democratic socities. First under threat from the NAZIs and then Soviet Communism, America and Europe were united by a common threat. There was never total unity, but the great majority of people on both sides of the Atlantic were united in a common effort. The disolution of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War have changed the dynamic of the American-European relationship. Without a common threat the differing world views of Europe and America are becoming increasiungly apparent. It is not that Europe feels threatened by America, bur rather many Europeans have come to renounce a world outlook which renounces force as an instrument of national policy and look to multilateral cooperation and negotiaion to resolve differences. Americans while reluctant to use force, are continue to see military force as sometimes necessary. The mass demonstrations in Europe during early 2003 illustrated the dimensions of the split with the United States. This has resulted in differing views on how to approach the problem of Iraq's weapn's of mass destruction, but this this may be only the first of many major disagreements to come.
We have no doubt that the people of Western Europe are outraged at the thought of war. In a Europe ravaged by the two most terrible wars in human history is undoubtedly a force for great good that the Europeans have come to view war with a moral outrage and have developed institutions that have made another European war virtually impossible. But as terrible as war is, history clearly demonstrates that not all war is evil and the consequences of inaction may in itself be an imoral act. History shows that some wars are moral. It was the Civil War that freed slaves in America. It was American and British military power in World War II that freed Europe from a nightmarish NAZI tyranny. Similarly history shows that the failure to take military action can have dire consequences. Even the recent past demonstrates this. An estimates 0.8 millon Tutsis were murdered by the Hutus in Rwanda. Perhaps 0.2 million people were murdered in Bosnia and Kosovo before the West acted.
Europeans in the series of crisis which have occurred since the fall of the Berlin Wall have been struck by their impotence. Even in the Bosnia/Kosovo crisis in an area so close to the European countries, Europe was unable to act effectively. Only the threat of American action and the actual use of American force in Kosovo stopped the Serbs from aggression and genocide. Many Europeans seem to be turning their very impotence into a moral good and by contast American and its use of force into an immoral act.
Many Europeansm accutomed to the effective international organizations, that now oranizes life in Europe are outraged that the United States would use force without the approval of the United Nations. While in a world governed by laws this would seem a reasonable solition to the question of the use of force. But this is not a perfect world and ours is not a world governed by laws. Time and time again in troubled countries such as Bosnia, East Timor, Iraq, Kosovo, Rwanda, and many others, U.N. actions have been uneffective. What insisting on U.N. does do is to provide moral justification for inaction. By asering that the United Narions did not authorize force, this to many Europeans absolves them from the responsibility for inaction on their part.
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