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| Volume IX, December 2002, Number 4 |
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| EXCERPT: Invading Iraq: The Road to Perpetual War |
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| Ronald Bleier |
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Mr. Bleier lives in New York City and edits the Demographic, Environmental and Security Issues Project (DESIP), an online journal (rbleier@igc.org).
Despite the clear personal differences between Adolf Hitler and George W. Bush and the different historical periods they represent, the comparison is a fit subject for dispassionate analysis because of the threat to world peace posed by the Bush administration. The late Israeli philosopher Yeshayahu Leibovitz argued that precisely because Hitler was such an extreme monster, comparing him to current leaders was a legitimate use of political rhetoric in order to draw attention to dangerous policies.
For the purposes of comparison with other leaders, Hitler can be distinguished by the strength of his military power, his disdain for international law and his willingness to embark on unprovoked aggression. President Bush's determination to preemptively attack Iraq absent a legitimate casus belli and the signals his administration has given of embarking on a course of perpetual war suggest that world civilization is facing a threat similar in significant ways to the one it faced 60 years ago. |
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