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A Matter of Principle: Humanitarian Arguments for War in Iraq Paperback – July 11, 2005
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The authors discuss the limitations of the current system of global governance, which tolerates gross violations of human rights and which has failed to prevent genocide in places such as Bosnia and Rwanda. They also underscore the need for reform in international institutions and international law. At the same time, these essays do not necessarily attempt to apologize for the mistakes, errors, and deceptions in the way the Bush administration has handled the war. Disputing the idea that the only true liberal position on the war is to be against it, this volume charts an invaluable third course, a path determined by a strong liberal commitment to human rights, solidarity with the oppressed, and a firm stand against fascism, totalitarianism, and tyranny.
- Print length384 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherUniversity of California Press
- Publication dateJuly 11, 2005
- Dimensions6 x 0.88 x 9 inches
- ISBN-100520245555
- ISBN-13978-0520245556
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"This is a first-rate collection. By bringing together isolated, important, and at times iconoclastic voices on the issue of the invasion of Iraq, A Matter of Principle makes for critical and provocative reading."Michael Barnett, Stassen Professor of International Relations, Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota
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- Publisher : University of California Press; 0 edition (July 11, 2005)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 384 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0520245555
- ISBN-13 : 978-0520245556
- Item Weight : 1.02 pounds
- Dimensions : 6 x 0.88 x 9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #6,429,009 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,753 in Iraq History (Books)
- #7,096 in African Politics
- #8,227 in Middle Eastern Politics
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Seeing the way liberals had reacted to Iraq was one of the biggest reasons why I have started calling myself moderate instead of liberal. I'm not trying to imply that the word liberal is monolithic by any means, but seeing the way so many different types of liberals were so strongly opposed to this war (many times out of pure hatred of George W. Bush and nothing else), really made me take serious look at what I thought.
Some of the articles in this book are a bit dense, and the average reader might not be able to get through them, but there are numerous other brilliant articles in this book that make a very strong case for their arguments. Put simply, the main point of this book is that a perfectly logical case can be made in favor of invading Iraq from a humanitarian perspective.
The authors in this book are not fans of Bush in any way, but yet they still make the case that getting rid of Saddam Hussein is a good thing. One of the contributors, Adam Michnik, put it best when he said "I believe you can be an enemy of Saddam Hussein even if Donald Rumsfeld is also an enemy of Saddam Hussein."
Throughout the book, the authors pose tough questions such as "If Bush really did lie about the weapons (and knew that none were in Iraq), why did the U.S. not arrange to plant the weapons after the invasion? A simple, but ironclad point in my opinion. The authors also tackle many of the liberal points used to argue against the war. Michael Moore is mentioned several times and because of this book, I am firmly cemented in my view that Moore has about as many positive contributions to make to the political world as Ann Coulter (which would be next to none).
Something I found particularly interesting was that a lot of what was said could be found coming from the right, but the point here is that the talk of liberating the Iraqi people from these authors are genuine. Hearing someone like Sean Hannity making these arguments isn't convincing because he's only for liberating another country if a Republican President is the one doing it. You never hear Hannity-types making the liberation argument in any other case.
I sincerely hope that anyone calling themselves a liberal that is opposed to the war in Iraq reads this book. It really challenges liberals to look at Iraq from the humanitarian perspective and I would venture to say that if you're a Michael Moore fan or a Noam Chomsky fan that could make it through this book and not have second thoughts, you're no different than the Republicans and conservatives you accuse of being blinded by ideology.
For those who are interested in the Iraq War, this collection is, I feel, indispensable. Not because the authors agree (they do not) but because the debate in this volume has about it a quality that has been largely absent from the Iraq debate: candor. Thus while the authors disagree on fundamental issues such as:
* was the war in Iraq, on balance, justified;
* did the governments that lead us to war lie or act in good faith;
* was the suffering of the Iraqi people alone sufficient justification for war; and
* do we have what it takes to see this war through
they do so without simplifying the arguments and without assuming that the Iraqi people agree with their positions.
For as profound as their disagreements are, the authors agree that:
* Saddam's regime was genocidal;
* leaving Saddam in place was not costless either (and most immediately) to the Iraqi people or (eventually) to the West; and
* the Bush administration has terribly botched the occupation, thereby endangering the whole enterprise.
And finally these authors point out that when in a public policy debate, the liberals sound like Henry Kissinger while the conservatives echo John Rawls, the political landscape is out of joint.
This is the sort of debate liberals like myself had every right to expect in the days and months preceding the Iraq invasion. We did not get it (for reasons addressed in this volume). We get it here; in this collection of essays. I highly recommend it.