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APPEASE THIS: Bush's Useful War Lust
Thursday, September 12, 2002
(1:00 PM PT)
By William Saletan
Slate Magazine

If you think that an American invasion of Iraq is unwise and that the world would be better off with unfettered U.N. weapons inspections backed by the serious threat of force, you're probably right. But if you get what you want, thank Bush.

There was nothing new in President Bush's speech today to the United Nations General Assembly. No new evidence that Iraq's nuclear program is close to producing a bomb; no new proof that Iraq is closely connected to terrorists who have attacked or might attack the United States; no new explanation of why, in the face of our ability to annihilate the Iraqi regime, that regime would use a nuclear weapon against us if it had one.

What's new is the setting in which Bush presented his case. Arrayed around him were dozens of diplomats in suits and headphones. They looked gravely concerned. They stared intently at Bush as though trying to see what madness lay behind his eyes. In the acuteness of their attention, you could read the question on everyone's mind: How can we satisfy this man? What must we offer him to persuade him not to do his worst?

For the diplomats and their heads of state back home, it isn't a new question. They have asked and answered it many times before -- about Saddam Hussein. He has been the troublemaker, the man requiring constant attention and negotiation, the man who might do something reckless if he were left unhappy. Now another cowboy is riding into town, less crazy but with much bigger guns: the president of the United States. This was his message to the General Assembly: If you don't want an imminent American invasion of Iraq, make me an offer.
(More: Slate.msn.com News Source)
2002 © Slate Magazine.

Dan