Interventionist Mentality

The attention paid to President Bush's recent interview on the Today Show focused on his comments that the war on terror could not be won. In that same interview he made another revealing comment:

President Bush: I guess because I made some hard decisions. And we've made a decision on Saddam Hussein to remove him from power. Going into Afghanistan to get rid of the Taliban created some unpopularity inside… Lauer: But you… President Bush: … of Pakistan. Lauer: …had great support in Afghanistan. President Bush: Now, let me finish for a second. Not in Pakistan. You mentioned Pakistan. It was an unpopular move in Pakistan as you might recall. And yet it was the right thing to do. When I’m making my calculations and I say to the Taliban, ‘Cough up Al Qaeda or face serious consequences,’ I’m not doing a focus group in Pakistan, Matt. I made decisions on what I think is best for this country, and yet the decision to remove the Taliban in Afghanistan was unpopular in Pakistan at the time. And in other places it wasn't so popular either, I might add — same in Iraq, there’s no question.

This is exactly the problem with interventionists. They disguise their interventions as actions that are "good for our country," thus allowing them -- as Bush says -- to ignore the opinions of the foreigners affected by the policy. Examples include the sanctions on Iraq, meddling in Iran in the 1970s and unwavering support for many dictators throughout the world. Simply ignoring the lack of popular support for US policies outside the US leads to continued hostility with other nations and, with time, more terrorism. Of course, when the US acts defensively, such concerns are less important. However, if the administration was unable to convince both a large portion of the US population and a wide majority of the world population that the war on Iraq was defensive and necessary, perhaps they should have reconsidered their justifications and motives. In the case of Iraq, it was clear that even the biggest lies and fear-mongering were not enough to sway world opinion.