Moats Misses the Mark

"Commentator David Moats reflects on self defense and the point at which the use of deadly force can be justified."
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David Moats' thoughtful commentary connects the reader/listener with the notion of self defense in the sense or law enforcement and extends it to our nation's recently promulgated policy of justified preemptive strikes in the war on terrorism. He focuses on Saddam and Iraq as the specific threat to the US and others. However, his analogy is overly simplistic.

Certainly Saddam is a threat, but the real threat is the terrible weaponry that he may place in the hands of others who are capable of doing the dirty work. We saw the enormous remediation effort, the fear and deaths associated with the anthrax attack. Imagine the deaths and suffering if the WTC and Pentagon attacks were accompanied by a simultaneous smallpox bioterrorism attack.

In today's news we learn that North Korea has admitted secretly devloping nuclear weapons. Clearly, rogue states must not be allowed to continue these efforts. Diplomacy should be the first option for prevention, but these villianous leaders of nations and terrorists must be on notice that the US will, with good cause and accurate intelligence, strike first. Our announced willingness to preemptively destroy weapons threatening thousands or millions of deaths is the only sensible policy for our nation in this era.

Just as the policy of Mutually Assured Destruction in the Cold War was nuts on its face, we made it work when the weapons were in the hands of two nations. That has changed. Now that WMD may be in many untrustworthy hands, preemption is essential. When to exercise the policy is the point where I agree with Mr. Moats. Thankfully the Bush administration and our Congress recently asserted their best judgement on this matter. Mr. Moats appears to disagree without quite saying so.

We should never take destructive military actions hastily, but Mr. Moats' analogy of a man with a knife or a policeman preventing crime only in immediate self defense minimizes the complexity of the present world and the risks to our nation. Evil people bent on wanton destruction of life must be on notice that we will act against their threat.

Our nation's preemption policy is correct for these perilous times and the Bush administration is acting wisely to use it, if necessary.