Liberal hawk

The term liberal hawk refers to an individual generally described as politically liberal who supports a hawkish foreign policy, as opposed to a foreign policy of not using force to intervene with conflicts around the world. Past U.S. presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson have been described as liberal hawks for their roles in bringing about America's status as the world's premier military power. The Clinton Doctrine can also be considered as consistent with this vision. Modernly the term is most frequently used to describe liberals and leftists who supported or still support the decision to invade Iraq in 2003, which was authorized by the United States Congress and ordered by a conservative president, George W. Bush. The war has stirred heated controversy among all political sides of the debate. In the U.S. growing doubts about the decision to invade Iraq is nearly parallel with the lackluster support for President Bush and the administration's handling of the war. The consensus among the left reaches very little disagreement about the latter. However, the left was divided over the issue of whether going to war in Iraq was the right decision, as some liberals felt that they should support the war, in accordance with the philosophy of liberal internationalism, which had caused them to support military intervention in the past. [Packer, George. " [http://www2.kenyon.edu/Depts/Religion/Fac/Adler/Politics/Liberal-quandary.htm The Liberal Quandary Over Iraq] ." The New York Times Magazine. December 8, 2002.]

One document often cited as promoting a liberal hawkish point of view is , published by the Progressive Policy Institute in October 2003. Another document related to this philosophy is the [http://www.socialdemocrats.org/IraqLetter3.html letter to President Bush] sent by Social Democrats USA in February 2003, urging the military overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime.

In January 2004, Berman, Friedman, Hitchens, Packer, Pollack, Weisberg and Zakaria participated, along with Fred Kaplan, in a five-day online forum entitled Liberal Hawks Reconsider the Iraq War, in which they discussed whether they had been correct in advocating military action against Saddam Hussein's regime. Kaplan by that point had renounced his prior support, but the general consensus among the participants was that, despite the absence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, the war had still been justified on humanitarian grounds.

In his book "The Good Fight", published in 2006, Beinart renounced his prior support for the Iraq War, saying, "I was too quick to give up on containment, too quick to think time was on Saddam's side."

People

People who have been described as liberal hawks include:

*Ronald D. Asmus, scholar at the German Marshall Fund of the United States [Anatol Lieven, [http://www.thenation.com/doc/20041025/lieven/single Liberal Hawk Down] , Anatol Lieven, The Nation, 7 October 2004]
*Peter Beinart, former editor of "The New Republic"
*Paul Berman, contributing editor to "Dissent" and "The New Republic"(described as a 'Philosopher King' of liberal hawks [Anatol Lieven, [http://www.thenation.com/doc/20041025/lieven/single Liberal Hawk Down] , Anatol Lieven, The Nation, 7 October 2004] ).
*Larry Diamond, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution [Anatol Lieven, [http://www.thenation.com/doc/20041025/lieven/single Liberal Hawk Down] , Anatol Lieven, The Nation, 7 October 2004]
*Thomas L. Friedman, foreign affairs columnist for "The New York Times"
*Christopher Hitchens, contributing editor to "Slate" and "Vanity Fair"
*Michael Ignatieff, deputy leader of the Liberal Party of Canada
*Jeff Jarvis, journalist and blogger
*Bob Kerrey, former U.S. Senator from Nebraska and president of New School University
*Ed Koch, former U.S. Representative and former Mayor of New York City
*Tom Lantos, former U.S. Representative from California
*Joe Lieberman, U.S. Senator from Connecticut
*Will Marshall, president of the Progressive Policy Institute
*Michael McFaul, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution [Anatol Lieven, [http://www.thenation.com/doc/20041025/lieven/single Liberal Hawk Down] , Anatol Lieven, The Nation, 7 October 2004]
*Matthew Miller, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress
*George Packer, contributing writer to "The New Yorker"
*Martin Peretz, owner and editor-in-chief of "The New Republic"
*Kenneth Pollack, former Clinton administration advisor and senior fellow at The Brookings Institution [Anatol Lieven, [http://www.thenation.com/doc/20041025/lieven/single Liberal Hawk Down] , Anatol Lieven, The Nation, 7 October 2004]
*Jeremy Rosner, former Clinton administration advisor and partner at Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research
*Ron Silver, prominent actor, television director, and producer, and political activist
*Michael Tomasky, Editor of Guardian America [Anatol Lieven, [http://www.thenation.com/doc/20041025/lieven/single Liberal Hawk Down] , Anatol Lieven, The Nation, 7 October 2004]
*Michael J. Totten, blogger and columnist
*Jacob Weisberg, editor of "Slate"
*Fareed Zakaria, editor of "Newsweek International"
*Oliver Kamm, British writer and newspaper columnist, author of "Anti-Totalitarianism: The Left-wing Case for a Neoconservative Foreign Policy" (2005)
*Tony Blair, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, although his role in supporting the American military involvement around the world is the matter of debate. Some critics believe the United Kingdom played a major role by convincing the US government to scale down the scope of operations which led, ultimately, to the overthrow of Iraq's ex-president Saddam Hussein. Others believe his involvement in the US-led invasion of Iraq was mostly to protect Britain's traditional interests and links in the region.

References

External links

* [http://www.ppionline.org/ppi_ci.cfm?knlgAreaID=124&subsecID=158&contentID=252144 Progressive Internationalism: A Democratic National Security Strategy]
* [http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=36A24D34-726F-4308-895F-D1105E5A3563 A Liberal's Case for Bush's War] ., Michael Totten, FrontPage Magazine, January 8, 2003.
* [http://www.slate.com/id/2093620/entry/2093641/ Slate: Liberal Hawks Reconsider the Iraq War]
* [http://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n18/judt01_.html Bush’s Useful Idiots] , Tony Judt, London Review of Books, 21 September 2006