Stopping Genocide doesn't require war

In “For or against the next war?” (Washington Times 2-6-07) columnist Tod Lindberg abuses statistics to suggest that a significant portion of American’s would support our nation starting yet another war.

Mr. Lindberg doesn’t seem to fathom the reality that there is a world of difference between launching a preemptive strike against Iran and stopping genocide in Darfur.

An unprovoked unilateral US military attack on yet another Muslim nation would spark wildly unpredictable negative global consequences and fuel the global war on terrorism, likely bringing the war to own shore.

A unilateral US military intervention in Darfur to stop mass murder may go against the will of the majority of Americans but it would be a globally approved police operation to protect innocent lives. Such action would contribute positively to global stability acting both to deter future genocidal regimes and by reducing chaotic global conditions that facilitate terrorism.

As a result of Iran’s president’s irresponsible statements about eliminating Israel and the US Mr. Lindberg and others believe that an attack on Iraq’s nuclear capabilities would be ‘preventing’ a future genocide. Nothing could be farther from reality. At best we would postpone their nuclear program while possibly sparking Armageddon. Neither would beneficial to Israel or the US given that Iran could certainly develop genetically targeted biological weapons capable of inflicting genocide on Jews or mass murder of Americans on a far greater scale than a limited nuclear strike.

Lindberg’s statistics only demonstrate the fallibility of democratic objectives. The use of force should not be subject to the passions of any majority. It should be limited to the global enforcement of inalienable human rights outlined within the most important document in human history – the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Polls on American opinions should have nothing to do with waging future wars. Use of force in policing the world’s pledge of “Never Again” does not require war.