Greg Piper points the way to a great piece in Opinion Journal, by Jose Ramos-Horta, 1996 Nobel Peace Prize winner, and East Timor's senior minister for foreign affairs and cooperation.

I like his title. A bit ambitious, while befitting a Nobel winner. Yet, Ramos-Horta's no starry-eyed idealist. He supports the Iraq war, and has backed a range of other armed interventions in despotic, dictatorial climes.

The consequences of doing nothing in the face of evil were demonstrated when the world did not stop the Rwandan genocide that killed almost a million people in 1994. Where were the peace protesters then? They were just as silent as they are today in the face of the barbaric behavior of religious fanatics.

Some may accuse me of being more of a warmonger than a Nobel laureate, but I stand ready to face my critics. It is always easier to say no to war, even at the price of appeasement. But being politically correct means leaving the innocent to suffer the world over, from Phnom Penh to Baghdad. And that is what those who would cut and run from Iraq risk doing.

Spot on, sir. And kudos to Greg not only for his post about this, but his lively, updated-daily blog, The Smoking Room. Keep at it, Pipesman.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at May 13, 2004 07:24 PM

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