Jewish World Review Sept. 16, 2005 / 12 Elul, 5765

The Bush Doctrine, unpacked

By David Gelernter

http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | The Bush Doctrine is an unfinished song that breaks off suddenly in the middle. I like the direction it's headed, but it needs finishing — right now. The American public needs to hear and understand the whole thing.

The U.S. will not win in Iraq, the Bush presidency will not succeed, the Republicans will not hold the White House in 2008 unless softening public support for the Iraq war firms up. And that won't happen unless the Bush Doctrine is made absolutely clear. The doctrine keeps the war effort alive.

Bush put it this way in his second Inaugural Address: The U.S. must "support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in the world." But hasn't the U.S. always been anti-tyranny and pro-democracy? The president hasn't explained why now is the necessary moment to act on these long-standing beliefs.

Sometimes Bush suggests that his doctrine responds to the mass murders of 9/11. But Saddam Hussein was America's enemy long before 9/11. Many tyrannies have been our enemies, including the Soviets in the Cold War, Germans and Japanese in World War II, the German and Austrian empires in World War I. And tyrants have been terrorizing their own peoples since long before 9/11. Once again, why launch this campaign at this historical point?

And why target tyranny in Afghanistan and Iraq but not in China, Vietnam or Saudi Arabia? Can a moral doctrine apply to some evil-doers and not others?

All these questions have good answers.

Consider the first: why now? There's a clue in that same second Inaugural address: "After the shipwreck of communism came years of relative quiet, years of repose." The Bush Doctrine responds to the end of the Cold War, not to 9/11. The Soviet collapse marked the start of a unique period in world history. Suddenly the climate was right for a rare plant like the Bush Doctrine — tough but idealistic — to germinate and even flourish.

Suddenly the U.S. was the world's only superpower. Balanced at the summit of history, right at the giddy top, we were freer than ever before to defend our interests and promote our ideals all over the world. But this state of things is delicate and transitory. I hope it lasts for centuries, but I wouldn't bet on it. We can't ignore America's unique position; we can't assume it will last. This is our moment. If we fail to make the most of it, we will never be forgiven or be able to forgive ourselves.

And it's not only that the U.S. wields more power than any nation ever has before. The Cold War's end was also a grim moment for tyrants everywhere. The Soviets could no longer prop them up and, with the threat of the Soviet Union neutralized, the U.S. no longer needed to. Tyrants lost their anti-Soviet value.

Ponder our attack on Hussein and you'll see that 9/11 was a trigger, but our real motivation was the end of the Cold War. True, the Iraqi tyrant was a logical target post-9/11. He was a cheerleader for international terrorism and its billionaire bankroller, a famed preacher of anti-American hatred, a confirmed warmonger and mass murderer. But if the Sept. 11 attacks had happened before the Soviet collapse, we wouldn't have touched him. At least not directly. He was a favorite Soviet client. An attack would have risked world war. Once the Cold War was over, we were free to respond to 9/11 by ridding the world of Hussein.

But what about the doctrine's moral coherence? Why are we targeting some evil regimes and ignoring others?

Because our strength is great but not unlimited. The Bush Doctrine doesn't excuse the president from protecting U.S. security and interests first and foremost. So we can't do all the good we would like to, which doesn't absolve us from doing as much as we can. Overthrowing tyrants, in this sense, is like showing charity. We have no power to give to everyone, no right to give to no one. The United States cannot sweep away every tyrant. But if we don't sweep away some, don't do what we can for the tortured peoples of this Earth, what are we doing at the top?

I'd rather have a superb doer than talker in the White House. Bush is a superb doer. Clinton was a superb talker. But right now it is essential that the Bush Doctrine is clear. It is time to talk — plainly and fully, before it's too late.