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A Times Editorial
If the White House doesn't show patience in dealing with Iraq, it risks losing international support that will be crucial in the broader war against terrorism.
© St. Petersburg Times, published January 16, 2003
The buildup of U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf is accelerating, but international support for an immediate war against Iraq has been melting away. With U.N. inspectors having failed to turn up hard evidence of illegal Iraqi weapons programs, crucial Arab and European governments are opposing any precipitous military action. Even the United States' staunchest ally, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, now says that the inspectors need more "space and time" to do their work.
Our government can't be held hostage to world opinion when our national security is at risk, but Iraq poses much less of a risk as long as it remains under the microscope of international inspections. In the meantime, the Bush administration can greatly reduce the risks of any eventual war in Iraq by showing the patience and persuasiveness needed to maintain a broad international coalition.
The impetus for immediate war is a matter of dollars and degrees. The military mobilization now under way in the Persian Gulf is enormously costly, whether or not those troops and weapons are used in combat. The mobilization also diverts vast military assets from other international trouble spots. As a practical matter, our government can't afford to have troops and hardware sit in limbo for many months while Iraq plays cat-and-mouse games with weapons inspectors. At the same time, the oppressive summer heat in the Persian Gulf region would greatly complicate a military operation. For that reason, if a war in Iraq doesn't begin by early spring, it might have to be delayed for several months.
Yet those exigencies alone should not dictate our military timing. As long as Saddam Hussein is hamstrung by renewed weapons inspections, our government has time on its side. We can use that time to rebuild international support by building a stronger public case against Iraq. The inspectors may yet turn up new evidence that will bolster that effort. U.S. authorities are supplying the inspectors with information intended to help them pinpoint Iraq's illegal weapons programs. The White House should find ways to make public some of the evidence against Iraq without compromising our intelligence-gathering operations.
The continuing pressure of renewed international inspections in Iraq could also give Washington the time and space it needs to deal with more pressing security issues, from North Korea's nuclear brinkmanship to the continuing threats posed by al-Qaida and other terrorist groups. Part of the growing skepticism over the Bush administration's Iraq policy stems from the administration's strikingly different response to North Korea's provocations. The war against terrorism extends far beyond Iraq's borders and should be guided by consistent priorities and principles. If the Bush administration loses patience and chooses to act unilaterally in Iraq, it will jeopardize the international support that will be crucial in that broader war.