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<td width="343" valign="bottom"><p class="date"><!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="date" --><a href="default.html">3/19/04• Vol.
128, No. 24</a><!-- InstanceEndEditable --></p></td>
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<p><a href="spain.jsp">Spain attack shows war was ineffective</a></p>
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<h1><font size="5">Spain attack shows war was ineffective</font></h1>
<p class="byline"> </p>
<p class="byline">By Robert Steinback, KRT Campus</p>
<p class="storyText">Spain’s support of the Iraq War didn’t
protect it from international terrorism. Why should anyone believe that
regime change in Baghdad has made any other nation safer?</p>
<p class="storyText"> The March 11 attack is the starkest proof yet that
the so-called Bush Doctrine—concocted to justify the invasion of Iraq—has precious
little to do with the worldwide campaign against organized terrorism.</p>
<p class="storyText"> The Madrid attack was stunning not only because of
its scale but for its meticulous planning and coordination, and its ominous
timing: three
days before a general election. The attack struck at the ultimate Achilles’ heel
of almost every major city in the modern world—Mass transit. One
need only consider that 3.1 million people ride New York City’s
subway system every day to comprehend the havoc a Madrid-style attack
there could cause.</p>
<p class="storyText"> It forces one to question America’s priorities since Sept. 11.
What has the Bush Doctrine—by which America reserves the right
to attack any sovereign nation if doing so is perceived to be in our
national-security interest—done to address the threat of terrorism?</p>
<p class="storyText"> Organized terror, for all intent and purpose, is
America’s only
potent enemy, and the only generalized threat to the Western world. The
danger isn’t so much the potential number of casualties, but the
fear and disruption that it can wreak on free and open societies.</p>
<p class="storyText"> Weapons of mass destruction in the hands of rogue
nations are another threat that shouldn’t be disregarded, but it must be considered
a lesser, and very different, threat. That’s because even a rogue
nation needs a motivation to launch such a weapon—and there aren’t
many scenarios in which such a nation could do so without inviting its
own destruction.</p>
<p class="storyText"> The Bush Doctrine is largely toothless in either
case. Pre-emptively attacking sovereign nations isn’t likely to crush a terrorist organization
that skulks in the shadows; that would be about as practical as bombing
a city to kill its roaches.</p>
<p class="storyText"> Nor does pre-emptive war hold much promise against
WMDs. There will be times when a tactical strike on a suspected weapons
facility would be
appropriate, but preemptive general war would more likely compel the
target nation to use WMDs as a last resort. The world is lucky that
Saddam Hussein had nothing to launch when we attacked.</p>
<p class="storyText"> Even for the worst-case scenario—WMDs in the hands of terrorists—pre-emptive
war would have virtually no application, as there would be nothing to
preempt. The danger in such a case would already be real and immediate.</p>
<p class="storyText"> In each case, the most effective strategy is consensus
and cooperation—sharing
intelligence, coordinating security efforts and deploying military assets
as needed. But the Bush Doctrine, by its very nature, contradicts this—it’s
about American interests, not global cooperation.</p>
<p class="storyText"> Haiti also has tested the logic of the Bush Doctrine.
The Bush administration stood by and watched a democratically elected
government crumble, neither
supporting President Jean-Bertrand Aristide nor pressuring him to make
the economic and political reforms his country desperately needs. That
presents a confused picture to the world.</p>
<p class="storyText"> The Bush Doctrine also had no apparent application
in Liberia, where a popular rebel movement—which sought American help—eventually
drove out that country’s own murderous strongman.</p>
<p class="storyText"> So when does the Bush Doctrine apply? Who can tell?
A doctrine is supposed to put the world on notice about some limit beyond
which America won’t
be pushed. Maybe that’s the point of the Bush Doctrine: to leave
the world guessing as to what we will do when.</p>
<p class="storyText"> The problem is, this also confuses our allies. Spanish
voters, expressing their unhappiness about participating in a preemptive
war that ultimately
gave them no more security against terrorism, turned one of Bush’s
strongest allies out of office.</p>
<p class="storyText"> The world certainly is better off without Hussein,
but the March 11 attack casts doubt on whether the world is any safer.</p>
<p class="storyText"> —
Robert Steinback is a columnist for The Miami Herald and can be reached
at rsteinback@herald.com. Comments may also be sent to collegian@csufresno.edu</p>
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