20030418
Ron Sider says,
For months, debate has raged in government circles about whether to extend the war against terrorism to Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, the Philippines, Yemen - using military power to rid these countries of terrorist elements.
We can do so if we choose. We are so overwhelmingly superior militarily that for the next couple of decades, we can do pretty much what we please. But behind the intense debate about whether to invade Iraq, etc., lies a crucial question: What kind of world does America want to use its power to promote?
There are two options. We can use our power unilaterally to promote the shorter-term economic and political self-interest of America (always, of course, with a veneer of moral appeal to freedom, justice and democracy for all). Or we can seek genuinely to implement the moral principles we claim to embrace and take the lead in creating a better world for all.
For months, debate has raged in government circles about whether to extend the war against terrorism to Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, the Philippines, Yemen - using military power to rid these countries of terrorist elements.
We can do so if we choose. We are so overwhelmingly superior militarily that for the next couple of decades, we can do pretty much what we please. But behind the intense debate about whether to invade Iraq, etc., lies a crucial question: What kind of world does America want to use its power to promote?
There are two options. We can use our power unilaterally to promote the shorter-term economic and political self-interest of America (always, of course, with a veneer of moral appeal to freedom, justice and democracy for all). Or we can seek genuinely to implement the moral principles we claim to embrace and take the lead in creating a better world for all.
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