Tuesday, March 04, 2003

More, more, more
Another good bio piece on Senator Graham in today's New York Times. My only concern with Graham is with regards to Iraq policy. He is skeptical about the chances of creating a democracy in the region. I myself don't think that it will be easy or quick, but that we should not resign ourselves to tyranny and oppression in the Middle East simply because it will be difficult to change. As I have noted before, I am a liberal interventionist.

The current situation has me a bit flummoxed in that many liberals are rabidly anti-war, which has a result of supporting (or enabling) a ruthless dictator whose values are more than illiberal. They end up in a position where they are siding with those who deny basic liberties and freedoms to their people. In countries like Iraq, gays are stoned to death, women are raped and killed for going out without a male relative, journalists are sent to rot in prison for questioning the regime, etc. Is this really what liberals should be standing for?

There is every reason for a good liberal to support regime change in Iraq. However, many liberals are afraid to exercise power as they believe power to be always imperial. To these people power can only be used for ends that have no material self interest in order to avoid imperialism. How unfortunate that liberals have squandered the legacy of freedom promotion bequeathed to them by Wilson, FDR and JFK.

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