Stanley Hoffmann Responds
Stanley Hoffmann Responds
I would only support an American war against the current Iraqi regime if (1) the current regime blocks inspections and refuses to carry out its obligations to disarm and a renewed and reinforced policy of blockade, sanctions and deterrence has failed and (2) the use of force is supported by the Security Council of the UN. It should not be a war for regime change.
I do favor both a UN-imposed inspection system for Iraq and the threat or use of force to impose and sustain such a system.
The Bush administration’s new doctrine of preemptive war would violate international law (including, of course, the UN Charter), be a recipe for chaos (if also adopted by many, or by dangerous countries), and mark a huge regression in international affairs.
If there is a unilateral or quasi-unilateral decision by the United States to go to war in Iraq, I would join an antiwar movement as long as it is a responsible, independent peace movement.
The long-term goals of the United States in its confrontation with Iraq should be (1) to disarm Iraq, not because it wants to become a nuclear power and “hates our values” but because it has so far violated its obligations to disarm after the Gulf War; (2) demonstrate before any use of force that the old notions of containment and deterrence are still relevant; and (3) act in such a way that the territorial integrity of Iraq is preserved, and that a majority of Muslim states supports our policies.
Stanley Hoffmann is the Paul and Catherine Buttonwieser University Professor at the Center for European Studies, Harvard University.
Other responses: Marshall Berman, Mitchell Cohen, Todd Gitlin, Kanan Makiya, James B. Rule, Ann Snitow, and Ellen Willis
Socialist thought provides us with an imaginative and moral horizon.
For insights and analysis from the longest-running democratic socialist magazine in the United States, sign up for our newsletter: