[Author’s Name]
[Institution’s Name]
Essay on Is War Necessary
Given the immense costs and risks of war, which rise sharply without broad international support, inspections should continue until they are seriously obstructed (which should trigger an immediate invasion) or succeed. To keep the pressure on, U.S. forces must stay where they are. There is an economic and human cost to this deployment, but it is minuscule compared with the costs, in both dimensions, that would be incurred by a war. Blix must be quickly pressured to undo the blunder he has made in negotiating with Iraq over U-2 surveillance flights. The Iraqis must simply be told that if there is any physical interference it will mean the end of inspections, and if they tail the planes into the no-fly zones, their planes will be shot down. End of discussion. These are comply-or-else inspections, and such negotiations should never have been allowed to begin.
An aim of U.S. policy must be to put the onus on each of the permanent members of the Security Council, in particular, to place its complete commitment behind the intent of Resolution 1441 to disarm Iraq. If that can be achieved without war, and no one can do more now than guess at the result either way, it will be a tremendous victory for President Bush. A war at this moment, however, regardless of the outcome, will bear one of history's harshest judgments: an unnecessary war. (Walsh, Kenneth T.)
It is clear that global challenges must be met by an emphasis on peace, in harmony with others, with strong alliances and international consensus. Imperfect as it may be, there is no doubt that this can best be done through the United Nations. For powerful countries to adopt a principle of preventive war may well set an example that can have catastrophic consequences. If we accept the premise that the United Nations is the best avenue for the maintenance of peace.....
