Conservative firebrand Alan Keyes criticized the Bush administration's motives for entering the war in Iraq in a speech to about 200 undergraduates at Griffith Film Theater Tuesday.
Keyes-a former Republican presidential candidate who was host of Alan Keyes Is Making Sense, a daily show on MSNBC until it was canceled-defined the conditions in which he said war is legitimate. He argued that a known threat from a foreign country without an attack can be enough to justify military self-defense, but that the Bush administration has failed to pinpoint this as its main reason for its preemptive strike.
He said that calling the offensive "operation Iraqi freedom" implies the U.S. is waging war in order to free Iraqi civilians, which he said would not be a legitimate cause.
"Even good causes don't make war justifiable." Keyes said. "There is only one justification for war and that is to defend yourself."
He said the creation of a democratic state in Iraq and the spreading of American values were also not a just reason to wage war. "If what we are engaged in is a crusade to spread democracy by means of fire and the sword then we are violating our own principles," Keyes said.
He claimed that attempts to create democracy in Iraq would not work, adding that establishing a democracy takes time and involves generations.
"Democracy will not happen when only despotism has come before," he said.
Keyes worked for the United Nations both as ambassador to the economic and social council and as assistant secretary of state for international organizations. He has not been the strongest advocate of the U.N.
"Those of you who know me, know that I am no particular friend of the United Nations," Keyes said.
He did, however, explain the importance of the United Nations as an institution created to foster peace. He faulted President George W. Bush for taking the U.N. route in the first place by renewing the weapons inspection mandate last fall. He added that while it would be lawful according to U.N. resolutions for the United States to defend itself if it recognized a threat, it was wrong for the United States to attack on the basis that Iraq was not following U.N. resolutions.
Keyes argued that a preemptive strike is not necessarily wrong, "so long as it is in the context of a defensive war."
Relativism, he said, has caused people to no longer see terrorists as evil. He argued that terrorism is evil not because of its aims but because of the methods it uses to have its ideologies recognized. Keyes said their use of passenger planes as weapons showed a disregard for the lives of innocent non-combatants.
"We fight an evil that is characterized by disregard for human life," he said "You cannot aim to destroy innocent lives."
He also expressed his fear about some of the reactions to terrorism, like military trials for suspected terrorists, which he said give the president too much power. "In order to be safe from terrorists we create structures that make it impossible to be safe from our own governments," Keyes said.
He urged his audience to think through what was happening to be sure they are not compromising their liberties.
Keyes received a standing ovation after answering questions, and students on both sides of the spectrum reacted positively to the talk, co-sponsored by the Duke Conservative Union and Duke University Union.
"He's an interesting guy. Even when I disagree with him, I find myself being convinced by his eloquence," said junior Jonathan Katz.
When asked about Keyes' criticisms of the Bush administration, Jeff Raileanu, president of the College Republicans, said, "Bush had to make the argument he did to convince people."
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