At the close of 2007, the world seems like a very frightening place. The threat of global warming is looming ever larger; political and religious extremism has gripped nations from Pakistan to Russia to the Middle East; thousands of U.S. soldiers are going above and beyond the call of duty in a war that seems to have no end. It has been a very scary year.
But yesterday, there came a glimmer of hope.
A declassified summary of the National Intelligence Estimate reported that, contrary to the Bush Administration's assertion that Iran was readying its nuclear arsenal, Iran actually halted its covert nuclear weapons program in 2003 because of international scrutiny and pressure.
In response to the NIE report, President Bush emphasized the fact that Iran did have a covert weapons program until 2003.
"Look, Iran was dangerous," Bush said, according to the Washington Post. "Iran is dangerous. And Iran will be dangerous if they have the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon."
The president is focusing on entirely the wrong part of this report. There is nothing wrong with being cautious and vigilant towards countries that have been threatening in the past - nobody is suggesting otherwise - but the point must be emphasized that the weapons program was halted in 2003 because of international pressure.
Iran was doing something that frightened us. We worked together to pressure them. They stopped.
This is a tremendous success story, not only for the United States, but for international diplomacy itself. At a time when nations are increasingly distrustful of each other, we can point to this report as proof that we can still work together to achieve common goals.
As the year draws to a close, we can find several things to be happy and hopeful about: Survival rates from cancer and other diseases are increasing in America and worldwide. President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan stepped down as military leader and will hold multi-party elections. Venezuelan citizens have voted down attempts by Hugo Chavez to increase his hold on power. Israeli and Palestinian leaders met in Baltimore to talk about restarting a peace process.
And fears about Iran's nuclear program turned out to be unfounded.
Certainly, there are challenges ahead. Certainly, we will have our hands full in the New Year with problems left over from the old one. Certainly, we cannot sit back and content ourselves with things that have gone right. But if we can remember these successes and learn these lessons, then maybe the world doesn't have to be that scary.
Former President Bill Clinton used to say that "there is nothing wrong with America that can't be solved with what's right with America." There is a basic human decency, a fundamental optimism in this country that allows us to press on even when the odds are stacked against us. This year, though we still face many challenges, there is reason to be hopeful.
Happy New Year.
