Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, I’ll attack … you.

Yes, you guessed it; this is just a glimpse into the higher-order thinking of our president, George W. Bush. In 2002, Bush released his administration’s National Security Strategy, a document that articulated elements of his Bush Doctrine and ultimately reformulated the United States into a pre-emptive and unilateralist country. This was first evident when our military forces originally attacked this now-forgotten country called Afghanistan looking for Osama bin Laden and then suddenly shifted our attention to Iraq for no clear reason. People argue that Iraq was a good country to attack in order to get Saddam out of power, and I don’t doubt that, but it is important to use the proper channels to action, and that includes engaging the help of the United Nations.

The United Nations was organized in 1945 to avoid individual countries using military power to attack other countries at will. In fact, the name “United Nations” was first used in the Declaration by United Nations during the World War II when 26 countries vowed to continue fighting together against the Axis Powers.

Now, nearly 60 years after the United Nations was formed, we are faced with, in the words of our president, another “axis of evil,” only this time he led us into a war prematurely without the assistance and unification that the United Nations was created to provide. As a result, our military forces are spending a third holiday season away from family and friends, fighting in a war that doesn’t have an end in sight.

Rachel Knowlton

Sophomore

Mathematics