Tom Williams
Regarding Joseph Bell's "Bell Curve" column April 22, titled "Not at
all hot for war in Iraq:"
As usual, our local liberal columnist claims to be confused. This
time, Bell laments the recent musings of Col. David Hackworth
(retired) and Gen. Anthony Zinni (also retired) about everything
from: whether there was a threat from Iraq, whether the United States
had the "moral authority" to attack Iraq, whether our soldiers (and
presumably the U.S. public) knows why we are there, where the weapons
of mass destruction are, where the Al Qaeda connections are, and
finally, suggesting that we go back to the old liberal stand-by for
all that ills of the nation or the world.
Go back and rejoin the most impotent and useless organization ever
devised by man or beast, the helpless and ever hapless United
Nations.
I can answer all of professor Bell's questions by referring him to
one magnificent op-ed piece by none-other than former secretary of
state (under President Ronald Reagan), George P. Shultz. Shultz, as
you will recall, was the main architect behind Reagan's masterful
destruction of the old Soviet Union with the brilliant ploy of
Strategic Defense Initiative.
The Wall Street Journal dedicated a half page (three full columns
top to bottom) of its editorial page to Shultz's brilliant analysis
of why the war in Iraq is not only warranted but absolutely
essential, "An essential war" Monday March 29th, 2004.
Shultz covers every base in minute detail of why we're there and
why we need to be successful there, but I will have to abbreviate,
condense and briefly outline the most salient points of this classic
essay for sake of time and space.
First of all Shultz identifies the traditional state system that
has effectively governed the world for the past three centuries. Each
modern country (the U.S., England, France, Germany, etc.) is a member
state. When occasionally a state gets out of line, as in the past,
for example Germany and Japan in World War II, other states banded
together and brought the wayward states back into line to become a
functional member of the world community again. And Germany and Japan
have done that since their defeat in World War II.
Recently, in the last 10 to 15 years, we have experienced a new
phenomenon known as the "failed state." Examples are Somalia, and
Afghanistan where Islamic extremists have essentially taken over what
were once legitimate, or semi-legitimate governments (states). And
these extremists created chaos and anarchy in their wake, leaving no
