The international landscape has changed dramatically in the past five years, since September 11th of 2001. At the time, the United States had the empathy and compassion of the world. People around the world grieved with us as they saw our own innocent civilians die in the face of tragedy and unspeakable evil acts of aggression. Now the world community scowls as they see innocent Iraqi women and children die in the face of tragedy and acts of aggression. The global community has shifted its perspective and the United States has walked itself to the edge with the current foreign policy, rooted in unilateral aggression.
We have our own heroes and fallen dead to honor as thousands of Americans have died in service to this country in Iraq, but it is time to bring the remaining soldiers home and to refuse to take one step further down the myopic and misguided path that the "war on terror" has taken. The international community has spoken clearly on the subject of Iran, and the message is diplomacy. This is a message the current administration should heed. Americans are not ready for yet another Middle East war, especially with a country that will fight back with ten times the agression that the Iraqi insurgency has displayed.
The events of 9/11 proved that expensive weapons do not provide security; cheap boxcutters and a bit of ingenuity can wreak terrible damage. True security cannot come from weapons; true security can only come from diplomacy and peace. The U.S. government's present foreign policy, of unilateral aggression, is creating new enemies faster than the U.S. government can kill old ones. Evidently it is not a method for increasing our security. If we want security, we'll have to try doing something different.
The United Nations is the best institution to monitor and implement the Safeguards Agreement with Iran, unilateral force will not work in this situation. It has not worked in Iraq and it will not work in Iran. Whether Iran does have a more extensive centrifuge enrichment than it currently admits is a matter for international diplomacy to resolve. The United States is on the edge, once again, and international opinion says to stay the course. Whether the current administration will allow international bodies to work as they are intended to remains to be seen. Americans have learned from Iraq, where there were no weapons of mass destruction and there was no support for Osama Bin Laden. Americans are tired of war, and talk of war. Americans want peace and security and the current administration's policies offer none.
