The fall of the Communism ushered in a new peace and security for Eastern Europe and much of the world. As the Soviet bear was finally brought down by the courageous actions of people like Lech Walesa and Vaclav Havel, millions celebrated their newfound freedoms. Despite many setbacks the past ten years have seen the quality of life and personal freedoms of the former Soviet bloc expand greatly. Even more importantly, the gross violations of human rights that once scarred the Soviet bloc fell like the statues of Stalin and Lenin.
The left, the ones who had been arguing for accommodation of the Soviets, soon found themselves on the wrong side of history. The horrors of Communism and the delight of the newly freed people of the Soviet bloc proved the "dangerous" and "destablizing" actions of Ronald Reagan to have been the most moral path.
Now, is appears as though history is repeating itself once again.
The left has argued that President Bush has been pushing the "dangerous" and "destabilizing" of unilateral action against Iraq. (Never mind the fact that Bush’s "coalition of the willing" included nearly 40 nations from the United Kingdom to Qatar.)
The international order as represented by the UN is not an intrinsic good. It has not produced peace, instead it has served as a hall of self-aggrandizement and obstructionism where the arrogance of Dominique de Villepin takes precedence over the need to take strong action over a thug like Saddam Hussein. The value of the UN is not in preserving the UN itself, but in creating a more peaceful world, and the old system no longer serves that purpose.
The left was on the wrong side of history in the Cold War, and they are on the wrong side of history now. As Reagan’s "dangerous" confrontation of the Soviet Union created a more peaceful world and increased human rights, so too will confrontation of the evils of militant Islamic fundamentalism lead to increased human rights and a better standard of living through the Arab world.
Peace is not obtained through inaction, it is obtained solely through the vigourous pursuit of justice. The destruction of the cancerous regime of Saddam Hussein is a great stride towards a more peaceful world. While war may be a distasteful option, it has become clear that even a disarmed Saddam Hussein would have left millions under the thumb of tyranny. That is neither a moral nor a particularly strategic option for the world community.
Yet the left has made it clear that this conflict would not be in their name. As they try to take claim to the freedom now spreading across Iraq, those of us who supported liberation from the start should hold them to that statement.
Perhaps Poland and the Czech Republic have seen a “quality of life increase” since the fall of Communism, but what about the rest of the former Communist bloc? Is Bulgaria better off economically than it was 1988? Albania? I know the former Yugoslavia and Soviet Union aren’t better off. Russia, for instance, saw a 50% contraction of GDP between 1990 and 1997. Compare that to the 25% contraction of GDP the US experienced during the Great Depression and you get a grasp just how dire things are in a “free Russia”. I’m sure not too many Russians, even those who hated the Soviet Union, would agree with the “morality” of Ronald Reagan and the people who pulled his strings since they essentially left the job half completed.
Obviously Communism was not the answer then and should not be brought back in that region, but most educated observers suggest that Russia’s problematic comeback can be traced to their leaders paying too much heed to the free-market ideologues at the University of Chicago, who told them nothing short of absolute laissez-faire free market policy would be acceptable or effective in post-Communist Russia. Attempting such a giant leap, when they should have eased slowly away from their government-centrallized economy, resulted in a belly flop and the American political right has their hands covered in Russian blood to this day because of it.
All of your self-congratulations about “being on the right side of history” then and now is relative then and yet to be decided now. Most people think the Cold War would have been over by now even if Jimmy Carter, Walter Mondale, and Michael Dukakis were elected because the inherent dysfunctions of Communism were causing it to collapse from its own excesses. Whether or not you guys will be able to do what Israel has been unable to for decades –westernizing the Arab world–remains to be seen, but is likely to be a more difficult task than Westernizing (sort of) Eastern Europe and Russia.
The world is going to hold you accountable to your big rhetoric, and to your endless stream of double standards. But then again, there’s never been an erroneous decision made by conservatives that hasn’t been defended by some thinly-constructed retort or misdirective ploy. So you’ll find away to deflect any responsibility for your actions, but you’ll probably be the only ones buying it.