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THE STUDENTS of Mary Washington College hold a reputation for breed- -r 2ing the most extreme of countercultural thought, and nowhere is this more evident in their defense of Islamic extremism after 9/11.
This stereotype is not unearned, and a brief scan of the campus newspaper only illustrates the point. One particular student recently went so far as to call the American Revolution a terrorist act, never mind whether "no taxation without representation" is considered to be a basic human right.
From lighting candles in protest to our efforts to bring Osama bin Laden to justice to railing against President Bush's attempts to remove weapons of mass destruction from rogue nations, the campus is certainly living up to its well-earned stereotype. After all, war equals terrorism, does it not?
This shortsighted notion against war is completely indefensible. As George Weigel so eloquently puts it, pacifist sentiment is based on a presumption against violence and not a presumption for justice. It has no concern for the welfare of the people of the Middle East, the Iraqi people, or American interests abroad.
War for just reasons is perfectly moral because it presupposes violence for just goals. In the instance of Saddam Hussein, we are faced with a tyrannical dictator who has shown no qualms about bringing war to his neighbors as well as his own people.
If the past is indeed prologue, then it would be entirely just to remove Saddam from power as it would be to remove Hitler from power--if not for the Iraqi people, then solely to deny Saddam weapons of mass destruction.
To be sure, when we hear of the litany of pain and suffering that is all too identifiable with Saddam Hussein, the laundry list gets repeated so frequently that to mention them almost becomes passe. But let us remind ourselves of who Saddam is and what he has done.
Saddam has massacred thousands of Iraqi Kurds. For more than 10 years Saddam has played every game possible to prevent destroying his weapons of mass destruction, begging the question as to whom he intends to attack with them. Above all, he has shown none of the commitment to peace and nonviolence that anti-war protesters are willing to afford him.
Most alarming of all, Saddam continues to hide his nuclear weapons program from U.N. inspectors while demonstrating a policy bent on acquiring nuclear weapons.
A nuclear-armed Saddam should be beyond all concepts of foreign policy, pacifist or otherwise. It would be a prelude--not a deterrent--to a greater Middle Eastern conflict. Such a scenario would spell death for millions in the Middle East, if not directly through war than indirectly through economic depression and starvation.
But as Saddam continues to beat his plowshares into swords, the pacifist response has been nothing short of impotence. Relying upon a half-baked notion that all things that inspire fear and terror are immoral, human rights advocates on campus seem content to categorize all forms of violence as war.
What is purchased is a concept of nonviolence at the expense of justice. Instead, Islamic radicals make some metamorphosis into noble heroes facing the tyranny of a warmongering and vengeful America. July Fourth is made to look like Sept. 11, and Mary Washington College's pacifist students nod with eager approval at the comparison.
The absurdity of the pacifist position is staggering, but this is exactly the mind-set pacifists are asking us to accept. But while pacifists can afford to remain content amid their posters and peace symbols, the clock is ticking overseas.
Critics may accuse the president of warmongering, but a brief recollection of the facts will show that it is Saddam who is pursuing the option of death rather than removing his weapons of mass destruction.
The United States offered the olive branch to Saddam after the first Persian Gulf War. That Saddam has refused it over the course of 10 years is not the fault of the United States, and the price of not carrying out our mission is too costly to allow.
I have no doubts that those supporting the anti-war effort have the best of intentions at heart. Then again, so did Neville Chamberlain. The lesson taught by 20th century pacifism was purchased at the cost of 50 million lives. How many lives will it cost in the 21st century? Hundreds? Thousands? Millions?
By pursing his weapons of mass destruction, Saddam has retooled for war and not peace. If we are to claim any commitment to defending justice and human rights, America has a responsibility--and, I would dare say, a right--to stop Saddam before it is too late.
SHAUN KENNEY is chairman of the Fredericksburg Republican Committee. The Mary Washington College Republicans will publicly debate the Human Rights Club on the war with Iraq tonight at 7:30 in the Lee Hall Ballroom.