“They blew it up!”
I heard the exclamation on a Saturday afternoon on my way into
the John Hopkins Medical Center. It was on the security
guards’ small portable television. Three words ensued:
“Space shuttle explosion.” I knew there was an Israeli
astronaut on board, but I could not believe the terrorists were
sophisticated enough to blow up the space shuttle Columbia on
re-entry. However, no matter how impossible it was, many people
initially considered terrorism as the most likely cause of the
disaster.
The immediate blame the terrorists received for the explosion
makes it all too clear how much has changed since Sept. 11, 2001.
Now, any violent event is somehow linked to terrorism. Yes,
terrorists seek to destroy us because of who we are and what we do.
We value democracy, human rights and open markets ““
principles more important than ever in times of terrorism, suicide
bombings and blown-up space shuttles.
Democracy, human rights and open markets represent who we are as
members of the civilized world. Democracy makes freedom of choice
possible; it maintains the rule of law, which is essential for
human rights to flourish and endure. Democracy also provides the
framework for an economic system whereby ever person has the
opportunity to succeed and prosper. This is what the terrorists
seek to destroy. They attack us, because they come from parts of
the world void of democracy, the rule of law, human rights and
economic prosperity. This lack of freedom is masked as legitimate
by their governments, customs and extreme ideologies.
If the United States and its allies are to succeed and prevent
another terrorist attack, in effect winning the “war on
terrorism”, then the battle must be one of ideals and not
just tanks, guns and bombs. We will succeed, because our ideals and
values have succeeded in the past; these same values will lead us
to success in the future.
The Soviet Union collapsed because its ideals and principals did
not include human rights and economic prosperity for its people.
China is currently democratizing in the hopes of gaining economic
prosperity for its people, and other states are in the process.
There are few states backsliding into the chasm of
authoritarianism, despotism and anarchy. Although Afghanistan has a
long road ahead of it, the country is constructing the institutions
necessary for the rule of law to take shape and unify the populous.
Venezuela may be ruled by an elected dictator, but its citizens are
still able to mobilize in protest, because the country still
respects and upholds the rule of law.
However insightful these examples may be, there remains one
country outside of the rule of law ““ an undemocratic state
that guarantees neither human rights nor economic prosperity for
its people. That country is Iraq. If the United States and it
allies wish to make the world safe for democracy, human rights and
the principles of economic opportunity, it must transform the
states that harbor undemocratic, despotic and tyrannical
regimes.
Even if the shuttle explosion was an act of terrorism, a war
against Iraq would not bring the crew members of the shuttle back,
or rebuild the twin towers. However, a war will warn every
terrorist and dictator against the principals of democracy and
human rights that they will be meet not by economic interests such
as oil, but by the full fury of a people united by the firm
conviction that terrorism and despotism anywhere is a threat to
democracy and human rights everywhere.
Magdaleno is a fourth-year political science student. He is in
Washington, D.C. for the quarter.