Past coming back to haunt Howard Dean

Dr. Howard Dean has very specific ideas about Foreign Policy that are quite different from President Bush. Howard feels that our unilateral invasion of Iraq was a bad thing and that we should have worked more with the United Nations to resolve the issue. With a hat tip to Instapundit comes several links to previous H. Dean texts. I'm thinking specifically of this July 19, 1995 letter to then-President Clinton where Dr. Dean says: bq. After long and careful thought, and after several years of watching the gross atrocities committed by the Bosnian Serbs, I have reluctantly concluded that the efforts of the United Nations and NATO in Bosnia are a complete failure. bq. I think your policy up to this date has been absolutely correct. We must give, and have given, this policy with our allies and with the United Nations every opportunity to work. It is evident, however, that the cost in human lives in allowing this policy to continue is too great. In addition, and perhaps more importantly for the United States, we are now in a position of ignoring, as many did in the 1940s, one of the worst crimes committed in history. If we ignore these behaviors, no matter where they occur, our moral fiber as a people becomes weakened. As the Catholic Church and others lost credibility during the Holocaust for not speaking out, so will the United States lose credibility and our people lose confidence in themselves as moral beings if the United States does not take action. bq. Since it is clearly no longer possible to take action in conjunction with NATO and the United Nations, I have reluctantly concluded that we must take unilateral action. Dr. Dean concludes with: bq. I understand the risks of this policy and their implications for the NATO Alliance and the future success of the United Nations. Surely, however, as you watch and read about the huge amount of unwarranted human suffering, particularly of children, you would agree that our current course must now be changed. bq. I urge you to make these changes as soon as possible, and I look forward to supporting your policy fully to the best of my ability. The letter can be viewed in full at the USA Today website here