Misrepresenting the Anti-War Stance

In an effort to marginalize opponents of the Iraq war, many hawks have attempted to make the war a referendum on Saddam Hussein. That is, they’ve attempted to frame the debate in such a way that one’s position on the war translates into one’s position on Saddam: if you oppose the war, you’re in favor of Saddam ruling Iraq; if you support the war, you’re anti-Saddam.
Predictably, many have been using yesterday’s capture of Saddam Hussein as another opportunity to pull out the pro-dictator card. Even Senator Lieberman got in on the action:

This news also makes clear the choice the Democrats face next year. If Howard Dean had his way, Saddam Hussein would still be in power today, not in prison, and the world would be a more dangerous place.

The insinuation behind these remarks–that Dean wants Saddam in power–is absurd. As Dean stated yesterday, it’s great that Saddam is out of power. The issue for serious doves has never been whether or not it’s good for Saddam to be in power. Clearly it’s not.
The issue has been whether cost of conquering Iraq (both in American lives and money) is worth the benefits to America. Thus far the costs have been evident, while the benefits haven’t been.
Let’s take this logic to its natural conclusion. Earlier this year David Wallechinsky had a feature in Parade magazine listing “The 10 Worst Living Dictators“:

1. Kim Jong Il�North Korea (Age 61, in power since 1994)
2. King Fahd & Crown Prince Abdullah�Saudi Arabia (Ages 80 & 79, inpower since 1982 & 1995, respectively)
3. Saddam Hussein�Iraq (Age 65, in power since 1979)
4. Charles Taylor�Liberia (Age 55, in power since 1977)
5. Than Shwe�Burma (Age 70, in power since 1992)
6. Teodoro Obiang Nguema�Equatorial Guinea (Age 60, in power since 1979)
7. Saparmurad Niyazov�Turkmenistan (Age 62, in power since 1990)
8. Muammar al-Qaddafi�Libya (Age 60, in power since 1969)
9. Fidel Castro�Cuba (Age 76, in power since 1959)
10. Alexander Lukashenko�Belarus (Age 48, in power since 1994)

To date President Bush has gone after one of these dictators. Should we infer from this that if Bush has his way, nine of these dictators would be in power? Of course not.
Message to hawks: just because a person isn’t in favor of marching around the globe invading countries doesn’t mean that he or she supports the conduct of their tyrants.