by Victor Davis Hanson<\/p>\n
National Review Online<\/em><\/p>\n T<\/b>he president reviewed the history of disarming Saddam Hussein, and reminded us it is not pretty: violation of the 1991 armistice accords, obstruction of U.N. resolutions, sanctions, and inspectors, a record of aggression, hatred of America, and a propensity to abet and engage in terrorism.<\/p>\n He made a good case that we didn’t ask for this war. But war nonetheless has come due to the 12 years of U.N. dereliction and the moral cowardice of the world \u2014 a policy of appeasement that nearly ruined the 20th century, but in an age of frightful weapons would surely result in global suicide of our own.<\/p>\n The fact is that U.S. Marines will find more deadly weapons in the first hours of war than the U.N. did in three months. And by day two the world will have forgotten Dominique de Villepin and be listening instead to Tommy Franks, who will practice a different sort of diplomacy. Get out of town in 48 hours sounds tough \u2014 but not when it results in liberation, rather than subjugation, and reconstruction instead of destruction.<\/p>\n Critics have claimed that Mr. Bush has backed himself into a corner; it is hard to see how when his promise was democracy and freedom for a tyrannized Iraq. We should not underestimate the power of his message of human liberty or the need of overwhelming force to ensure it. The EU, the U.N., NATO, the European street, the American Left, and a host of others, by failing to understand the post 9\/11 world and its requirement to neutralize Saddam Hussein, have unnecessarily put their perceived wisdom, prestige, and influence in jeopardy \u2014 and with the liberation of Iraq they all are going to lose big time.<\/p>\n Now the battlefield, Thucydides’s harsh schoolmaster, will adjudicate what talk cannot. The only question remaining is not the ultimate verdict, but to what degree the past failure of allies to support the United States emboldened Saddam Hussein, cost the American military tactical surprise, complicated logistics, and needlessly raised casualties.<\/p>\n Finally Mr. Bush’s grim speech was a reminder why “a peaceful but not fragile” America is different from the U.N. and the nations that are in it. They either use force or embrace principles, but rarely both and never at the same time. It is impossible to imagine a French or German statesman ever giving such a tough speech about the price of freedom, and harder still to believe any of their people would ever listen to it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a92004 Victor Davis Hanson<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Next stop: the battlefield. by Victor Davis Hanson National Review Online The president reviewed the history of disarming Saddam Hussein, and reminded us it is not pretty: violation of the 1991 armistice accords, obstruction of U.N. resolutions, sanctions, and inspectors, a record of aggression, hatred of America, and a propensity to abet and engage in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[817],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-1hJ","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5242,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/lo-the-u-n-by-what-name-do-we-call-thee\/","url_meta":{"origin":4943,"position":0},"title":"Lo, The U.N. By What Name Do We Call Thee?","author":"victorhanson","date":"June 9, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Failed, useless, dubious, impotent, pernicious, morally exhausted . . . by Bruce S. Thornton Private Papers Every crisis is an opportunity, a time when the fissures and cracks of received wisdom and worn-out habits of thought are exposed. The years since the terrorist attacks on 9\/11 have been such a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bruce S. Thornton"","block_context":{"text":"Bruce S. Thornton","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/bruce-s-thornton\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4787,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/weapons-of-mass-hysteria\/","url_meta":{"origin":4943,"position":1},"title":"Weapons of Mass Hysteria","author":"victorhanson","date":"February 6, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"If anything, the war was about 100,000 corpses too late. by Victor Davis Hanson National Review Online The United States has lost less than 350 American dead in actual combat in Iraq, deposed the worst tyrant on the planet, and offered the first real hope of a humane government in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "February 2004"","block_context":{"text":"February 2004","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/archives\/2004\/february-2004\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8421,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/were-still-dumbing-down-the-iraq-war\/","url_meta":{"origin":4943,"position":2},"title":"We\u2019re Still Dumbing Down the Iraq War","author":"victorhanson","date":"May 21, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The truth about the danger of Saddam Hussein and why we went into Iraq. by Bruce S. Thornton \/\/ FrontPage Magazine Jeb Bush tangled himself up recently when he tried to answer a dumb question on the intelligence failures about Iraq\u2019s WMDs and their role in going to war with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Terrorism"","block_context":{"text":"Terrorism","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/war-on-terror\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Photo via FrontPage Magazine","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/war-450x312.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4432,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/move-the-u-n\/","url_meta":{"origin":4943,"position":3},"title":"Move the U.N.?","author":"victorhanson","date":"April 13, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson Tribune Media Services Americans grew up with kind feelings toward the United Nations. Many remain nostalgic about their childhood UNESCO Halloween buckets and UNICEF Christmas cards. Such goodwill explains why we host the organization and cover a quarter of its operating budget. The U.N. arose out\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "April 2005"","block_context":{"text":"April 2005","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/archives\/2005\/april-2005\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5310,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/deconstructing-kerrys-case-against-president-bush-part-two\/","url_meta":{"origin":4943,"position":4},"title":"Deconstructing Kerry’s Case Against President Bush: Part Two","author":"victorhanson","date":"October 21, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bruce S. Thornton Private Papers The Kerry case against the President's invasion of Iraq is built on four components: the President misled the nation about WMDs and ties to al Qaeda; he failed to plan adequately for the aftermath of combat; he failed to bring our allies on board;\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bruce S. Thornton"","block_context":{"text":"Bruce S. Thornton","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/bruce-s-thornton\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4336,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/the-iraqi-wars\/","url_meta":{"origin":4943,"position":5},"title":"The Iraqi Wars","author":"victorhanson","date":"July 12, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Our 15-year conflict with Iraq. by Victor Davis Hanson National Review Online Iraq is a blur now. Everyone from Norman Schwarzkopf and General Zinni to Tommy Franks and General Abezaid is mixed up in our memories. 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