Conyer's Blog: Fairness, Not Force

ConyersBlog
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2/23/2005 11:37am

Fairness, Not Force

Earlier today President George W. Bush completed the first leg of his barnstorm tour of Europe , which to date has included meetings with, among others, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and French President Jacques Chirac. For America’s sake, I hope that on this trip the President is able to regain the support of our allies who he has alienated over the past two and one-half years with isolationist talk and ill advised unilateral action.

As the President continues to visit with world leaders, I cannot help but wonder what might have been had this Administration not squandered its opportunity to work with our allies in the weeks and months after September 11, 2001. In the aftermath of that horrific day, nations throughout the world stood with the United States as it mourned, and then asserted its initial alliance with America as we readied to fight back against terrorism. However, as he addressed the United Nations on September 12, 2002, President Bush’s appeal to world leaders rang hollow, with his words seeming to do little to hide the fact that he was intent on proceeding alone if necessary and, as we later learned, with or without justifiable cause. Worse yet, this Administration’s actions following that address carried an air of arrogance that many throughout the world today sadly associate with the United States as a whole. To date, American taxpayers have watched nearly $120 billion go into an Iraqi war that was fought under false pretense and into which we entered with no exit strategy. And just last week, the White House requested an additional $82 billion for the war effort. Such a scenario need not, and cannot, be repeated.

Last month in his second inaugural address, President Bush spoke of bringing freedom and liberty to nations throughout the world. While few will argue with the idealism for which this grand notion stands, I question whether President Bush has learned the necessary lessons from his immediate past, including the lesson that listening to our friends is sometimes more important than speaking at them. More importantly, the central lesson of the last four years is that freedom need not come from force, but instead should come from fairness and compassion. For our sake and the world’s, I hope he has. Americans simply cannot afford to take on such a bold plan alone.

-- J.C.



Link: http://www.johnconyers.com/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={B166974A-C132-4EC3-9682-FE6E08C1A584}


I love this man!

I'm glad he has a blog on his site. :) Here's to Mr. Conyers. :toast:
Sadly Bush screwed up everything when he went into Iraq for no reason at all. *sigh*