The reality of foreign policy

Re “Meet John ‘Dubya’ McCain,” Opinion, April 23

Peter Scoblic ignores many of the finer, yet more important, points when it comes to adopting a more realpolitik strategy toward foreign policy. Scoblik dismisses John McCain’s idea for a League of Democracies as being a way to avoid dealing with countries that operate “with different interests and values.”

McCain’s proposal may be a tad fantastic, but the thinking behind it is solid. If “different interests and values” mean that such countries ignore the rule of law, laugh at democracy and scorn freedom of speech and other values we take for granted, why should the United States deal with them in a forum that purports to support the values these countries ignore? I would also note that as a newly sworn-in citizen of the United States, reading the Declaration of Independence brought home to me why it is important that America simply cannot ignore lack of freedom, human rights and injustice around the world by playing the realpolitik game.

Although the Bush administration can be rightly criticized in this arena (Guantanamo is but one example), it doesn’t mean that a more principled politician such as McCain can’t do a better job.

James Wall

Cherry Hills Village, Colo.

Although I’m far from an apologist for the Bush administration, the ongoing canard that the administration ignored the “international community” before going to war in Iraq continually mouthed by the likes of Scoblic is demonstrably false.

United Nations Resolution 1441, passed by the Security Council in 2002, recognized “the threat Iraq’s noncompliance with council resolutions and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and long-range missiles poses to international peace and security.”

This sounds to me like the entire Security Council, not just George W. Bush, recognized that Saddam Hussein was indeed one of the “forces of evil.”

Resolution 1441 also promised that Iraq would “face serious consequences as a result of its continued violations of its obligations.”

Based on Scoblic’s writing, I guess his idea of “serious consequences” would have been for the United Nations to mandate that Hussein use fluorescent light bulbs in his palaces.

Scoblic’s “can’t we all just get along” approach to foreign policy is naive and dangerous.

Michael Leb

Pasadena