The Right War
EDITORIAL The Right War President Bush's speech before Congress Thursday night conveyed both the determination and the reassurance the American people needed. But what gave the president's address...
...The signatories support the president's war on terror...
...These recommendations are consistent with the principles the president laid out Thursday night, and with the vital interests of our nation...
...Therefore, any war against terrorism must target Hezbollah...
...We are at war...
...Could the war the president so eloquently rallied us to Thursday night be considered won if Saddam were still in power three years from now, aiding our enemies and developing weapons of mass destruction...
...That means the war on anti-American terrorism must target Hezbollah, the terrorist group backed by Iran and Syria, as well as the Taliban...
...DEFENSE BUDGET: A serious and victorious war on terrorism will require a large increase in defense spending...
...We fully support your call for "a broad and sustained campaign" against the "terrorist organizations and those who harbor and support them...
...William Kristol, Richard V. Allen, Gary Bauer, Jeffrey Bell, William J. Bennett, Jeffrey Bergner, Rudy Boshwitz, Eliot Cohen, Seth Cropsey, Midge Decter, Thomas Donnelly, Nicholas Eberstadt, Hillel Fradkin, Aaron Friedberg, Francis Fukuyama, Frank Gaffney, Jeffrey Gedmin, Reuel Marc Gerecht, Charles Hill, Bruce P Jackson, Eli S. Jacobs, Michael Joyce, Donald Kagan, Robert Kagan, Jeane Kirkpatrick, Charles Krauthammer, John Lehman, Clifford May, Martin Peretz, Richard Perle, Norman Podhoretz, Stephen P Rosen, Randy Scheunemann, Gary Schmitt, William Schneider, Jr., Richard H. Shultz, Henry Sokolski, Stephen J. Solarz, Vin Weber, Leon Wieseltier, Marshall Wittmann...
...Osama bin Laden: We agree that a key goal, but by no means the only goal, of the current war on terrorism should be to capture or kill Osama bin Laden, and to destroy his network of associates...
...There is, of course, much more that will have to be done...
...Last week we lost more than 6,000 Americans to terrorism...
...Diplomatic efforts will be required to enlist other nations' aid in this war on terrorism...
...The president declared that while America's "war on terror" begins with Al Qaeda, "it does not end there...
...We agree with the Secretary of State that U.S...
...Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz and others in the Pentagon and in Vice President Cheney's office have argued that no war on terrorism can possibly succeed if there is not a change of regime in Iraq—which is what Wolfowitz meant when he said a week ago that it was necessary to "end states that support terrorism...
...He surely knows that a change of regime in Iraq may take longer, but is every bit as important...
...Until the Palestinian Authority moves against terror, the United States should provide it no further assistance...
...There are other actions of a military nature that may well be needed...
...It is suspected of having been involved in the 1998 bombings of the American embassies in Africa, and implicated in the bombing of the U.S...
...And unlike the Taliban, Saddam Hussein may soon have at his disposal not only terrorist networks, but biological, chemical, and even nuclear weapons...
...Fighting this war may well require the United States to engage a well-armed foe, and will also require that we remain capable of defending our interests elsewhere in the world...
...The war, he insisted, will require that "every terrorist group of global reach" be "found, stopped, and defeated," and our enemies, he declared, will include not just those groups but also "every government that supports them...
...And they will be right...
...interests and our allies...
...Evidence that Iraq may have aided in the horrific attacks of September 11 is beginning to accumulate...
...We agree with Secretary of State Powell that the United States must find and punish the perpetrators of the horrific attack of September 11, and we must, as he said, "go after terrorism wherever we find it in the world" and "get it by its branch and root...
...It is also, and perhaps even more significantly, a war against the kinds of regimes that support and employ terrorism as a deadly weapon in their war against us...
...personnel, U.S...
...In 1998 a group of prominent figures sent a letter to President Clinton urging him to take strong action against Saddam Hussein...
...And it must include a determined effort to remove Saddam Hussein from power, by supporting the Iraqi opposition and, if necessary, by using American military force to complete the tragically unfinished task begun in Operation Desert Storm a decade ago...
...personnel, U.S...
...However, in our judgement the steps outlined above constitute the minimum necessary if this war is to be fought effectively and brought to a successful conclusion...
...They point out that such a war must include a policy designed to remove Saddam Hussein and his regime from power in Iraq...
...policy must aim not only at finding the people responsible for this incident, but must also target those "other groups out there that mean us no good" and "that have conducted attacks previously against U.S...
...Robert Kagan and William Kristol An Open Letter to the President September 20, 2001 Dear Mr...
...And American forces must be prepared to back up our commitment to the Iraqi opposition by all necessary means...
...American military force should be used to provide a "safe zone" in Iraq from which the opposition can operate...
...our purpose in writing is to assure you of our support as you do what must be done to lead the nation to victory in this fight...
...Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983...
...We believe the administration should demand that Iran and Syria immediately cease all military, financial, and political support for Hezbollah and its operations...
...For Bush pledged not only to find and destroy Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda terrorist network in Afghanistan, and not only to attack and vanquish the brutal Taliban regime that has given bin Laden aid and sanctuary...
...But the sacrifices we will make will be fully justified, and redeemed, if we fight the right war, and fight it to victory...
...U.S...
...The United States must therefore provide full military and financial support to the Iraqi opposition...
...ISRAEL AND THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY: Israel has been and remains America's staunchest ally against international terrorism, especially in the Middle East...
...The president revealed in his speech a deep understanding of an important point: that the "war on terrorism" is not merely a war on terrorists...
...Saddam Hussein, because of his strategic position in the Persian Gulf and the Middle East, surely represents a more potent challenge to the United States and its interests and principles than the weak, isolated, and we trust, soon-to-be crushed Taliban...
...Is it conceivable that the United States would destroy the Taliban but leave the Iraqi regime untouched...
...To this end, we support the necessary military action in Afghanistan and the provision of substantial financial and military assistance to the anti-Taliban forces in that country...
...But Bush's Thursday speech was significant because the president made clear that taking decisive action against Saddam does not require absolute proof linking Iraq to last week's attack...
...We should insist that the Palestinian Authority put a stop to terrorism emanating from territories under its control and imprison those planning terrorist attacks against Israel...
...Economic and financial tools at our disposal will have to be used...
...Do we really want to find out...
...Below we reprint another letter, sent to the president this week...
...President, We write to endorse your admirable commitment to "lead the world to victory" in the war against terrorism...
...Failure to undertake such an effort will constitute an early and perhaps decisive surrender in the war on international terrorism...
...Iraq: We agree with Secretary of State Powell's recent statement that Saddam Hussein "is one of the leading terrorists on the face of the Earth...
...We trust these words will reverberate far beyond Kabul, in Tehran, Damascus, Khartoum, and above all, in Baghdad, where sits the man whom Secretary of State Colin Powell recently called "one of the leading terrorists on the face of the Earth...
...Hezbollah clearly falls in the category cited by Secretary Powell of groups "that mean us no good" and "that have conducted attacks previously against U.S...
...The president made clear in his speech that the war on terrorism must bring about a change of regime in Afghanistan...
...But what gave the president's address historic significance was the courageous and visionary mission he set for his administration and for the nation...
...Other bits of evidence of Iraqi complicity may emerge in the future...
...As both the New York Times and the Washington Post reported this past week, there has been an argument within the Bush administration over how centrally to target Iraq...
...American intelligence officials have learned that one of the men who carried out the attacks on the World Trade Center, Mohammed Atta, met with an Iraqi intelligence official in Germany several months ago...
...They warned that if Saddam were to "acquire the capability to deliver weapons of mass destruction, as he is almost certain to do if we continue along the present course, the safety of American troops in the region, of our friends and allies like Israel and the moderate Arab states, and a significant portion of the world's supply of oil will all be put at hazard...
...They pressed President Clinton to make it the aim of American foreign policy to "remove Saddam Hussein and his regime from power...
...Should Iran and Syria refuse to comply, the administration should consider appropriate measures of retaliation against these known state sponsors of terrorism...
...interests and our allies...
...We urge that there be no hesitation in requesting whatever funds for defense are needed to allow us to win this war...
...It may be that the Iraqi government provided assistance in some form to the recent attack on the United States...
...The signatories of that 1998 letter are today a Who's Who of senior ranking officials in this administration: Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, U.S...
...In order to carry out this "first war of the 21st century" successfully, and in order, as you have said, to do future "generations a favor by coming together and whipping terrorism," we believe the following steps are necessary parts of a comprehensive strategy...
...A few days before, Secretary Powell was even more explicit in saying that the United States should target those "groups out there that mean us no good" and "that have conducted attacks previously against U.S...
...Indeed, we find it hard to believe that anyone in this administration, whether in the State Department or in the White House or in the CIA, can seriously be arguing that the Iraqi regime should be left alone...
...Trade Representative Robert Zoellick, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, Under Secretary of State John Bolton, Under Secretary of State Paula Dobriansky, Assistant Secretary of Defense Peter Rodman, and National Security Council senior officials Elliott Abrams and Zalmay Khalilzad...
...How many more could we lose in a world where Saddam Hussein continues to thrive and continues his quest for weapons of mass destruction...
...personnel, U.S...
...interests, and our allies...
...The United States should fully support our fellow democracy in its fight against terrorism...
...If Attorney General John Ashcroft's investigation does begin to piece together a puzzle that includes Iraq, the American public will demand that the kind of forceful response now being assembled against the Taliban be turned with even greater fury against Saddam and his regime...
...If these Bush administration officials believed it was essential to bring about a change of regime in Iraq three years ago, they must believe it is even more essential today...
...HEZBOLLAH: Hezbollah is one of the leading terrorist organizations in the world...
...They call for measures against Hezbollah, and against Iran and Syria if they do not cease their support for that powerful terrorist organization...
...But even if evidence does not link Iraq directly to the attack, any strategy aiming at the eradication of terrorism and its sponsors must include a determined effort to remove Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq...
...It will not be easy...
Vol. 7 • October 2001 • No. 3
