Military

DATE=11/23/02

TYPE=FOCUS

NUMBER=8-036

TITLE=US FOREIGN POLICY

BYLINE=SERENA PARKER

TELEPHONE=202-205-4679

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

EDITOR=ED WARNER

INTRO: A new book out in the United States examines the debate within the Bush Administration that led to the U-S military action in Afghanistan and the decision to confront Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. The book examines how the President is balancing the need for international cooperation with his belief that sometimes the U-S will have to act alone in fighting terrorism. In today's Focus report, VOA's Serena Parker talks with U-S Senator Chuck Hagel, a Republican, and former U-S Congressman Lee Hamilton, a Democrat, about the current and future state of U-S foreign policy.

TEXT: Last September, America mourned. A memorial service to honor those killed in the September 11th terrorist attacks drew hundreds to the National Cathedral in Washington, D-C. U-S President George W. Bush addressed those gathered and the millions watching on T-V. He said the United States' "responsibility to history is already clear to answer these attacks and rid the world of evil." After his speech the audience filed out of the service to the strains of the Battle Hymn of the Republic, which as many noted at the time, is a call to arms.

In the year that has passed since the attacks, the President has made clear his view of the role the United States the lone global super power must play in world politics. While the President is often criticized abroad for his views, many leading U-S foreign policy experts Democrats and Republicans alike tend to agree with him, although they caution the U-S should not forget to listen to world opinion.

Republican Chuck Hagel is a two-term Senator from the Midwestern State of Nebraska. Senator Hagel says that while the post-Cold War world has changed from a bipolar to a lone power world, coalition building will be as important in the 21st century as it was in the second half of the 20th century.

///INSERT HAGEL ACT 1///

We have been able to progress in ways that no one could have ever have imagined or envisioned 50 years ago - the great advances in medicine, in science, in the environment. Yes, we still have a tremendous amount of work to do: great poverty, great despair, great hopelessness, great hunger. People are still killing each other. So there's a lot to do out there, but it is my feeling that we are not going to accomplish what we are capable of accomplishing, and what I think destiny projects us to accomplish, unless we do it through these coalitions of common interest.

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Senator Hagel says he was pleased by the President's decision to work through the United Nations Security Council on the issue of Iraq.

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I have been one of those out front on this issue for half a year, saying that the United States could not, cannot, will never be able to take on these great enemies of our time alone, as powerful as we are. It will be the enhancement of America's relationships that eventually win the battles against terrorism and these other great threats. Working through the United Nations gives us the diplomatic high ground. It gives us the moral high ground. It gives us allies, it gives us partners. There's no way the United States could go invade Iraq and then sustain any kind of government after Saddam Hussein falls without partners.

///END HAGEL ACT 2///

Former Democratic Congressman Lee Hamilton, who now serves as the Director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, says that while U-S military power alone could overthrow Saddam Hussein, without a coalition the United States will never be able to build a democratic Iraq.

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Much, much tougher is the question of what you do in a post-Saddam Hussein Iraq. We're going to be confronted with a lot of very tough problems there. Even if we had the support of the international community, they are still going to be very tough. We're going to have to stabilize the country. We're going to have to locate and dismantle the weapons of mass destruction. We're going to have to find and prosecute Saddam Hussein and his entourage. We're going to have to secure those oil fields, and of course, we will have to address a likely humanitarian crisis. And all those are the short-term problems. It's going to take a lot of resources, a lot of patience, a lot of skill, and the United States is going to need all the help we can get to do it.

///END HAMILTON ACT 1///

Both Senator Hagel and Mr. Hamilton caution that war with Iraq should not be taken for granted.

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What I find most important here is that a war is not inevitable. We have an opportunity to deal with Saddam Hussein in a way other than through a mass invasion. In the end, that may be the option that will be required. But right now there is another alternative here, and that is because we are working through the United Nations.

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The two statesmen from opposite political parties say while pursuing the national interest, the United States must take into consideration the concerns of other nations.

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We don't want to be the ugly American. We owe, I think, our allies and friends the obligation to consult. Always we reserve the right to act alone. But I think all of us also understand that in the end we're going to be better off if we have the support of much, if not all, of the rest of the world. I think the genius of American diplomacy in the post-World War Two period was that we could advance our own interests by working in a multilateral context with those who share some of our values, all of our values, and interests. And we can develop policies and institutions that advance those interests by working with our friends and allies.

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This idea that the United States will reserve the right to act alone has made headlines worldwide. Critics say the Bush Administration's national security doctrine's position on preemptive strikes will disrupt world law and order. However, as Senator Hagel notes, the United Nations Charter makes it very clear that every nation has the right of self-defense, of which preemption is a part.

///INSERT HAGEL ACT 4///

Preemption is a matter of judgement, and threat, urgency of threat, many factors that go into that. But I think America must be very careful here that we are not seen by the world, perceived by the world, that we are somehow going to change an American doctrine to this unilateral, preemptive strike doctrine that says if we perceive you to be a threat, if we think you are or if we have intelligence you are, or any reason that we have for us alone to preemptively strike you, that is our call. Because the consequences of that are many, and the unintended consequences that flow from that will surely affect our role in the world.

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Senator Hagel draws on his own experience as a decorated, twice-wounded Vietnam veteran to warn against going rashly to war. It should be carefully considered.

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I think we need to take the time to do that rather than charge off hell bent into war because some intellectuals, who don't know anything about war, at the Pentagon, or the White House, or anywhere else, think it's a neat thing to go to war. I don't think war is a neat thing, there's only suffering in war. There are some things worth fighting for and worth dying for and I don't think this country is afraid of that but we need to make sure that we've exhausted every other option before we commit young men and women to war.

///END HAGEL ACT 5///

Mr. Hamilton, who during his 34 years in the U-S Congress made significant contributions to American foreign policy, says no U-S President can reject the idea of preemption.

///INSERT HAMILTON ACT 3///

We do have a new threat of terrorism; it does demand a new response. This doctrine is a response. No president would let an attack come to America when it could be prevented. Now having said that, there are a lot of tough questions that have to be asked.

///END HAMILTON ACT 3///

Both Senator Hagel and Mr. Hamilton agree the challenge for future U-S foreign policy will be much like that of the past: to advance American interests while cooperating with others.

For Focus, I'm Serena Parker.