Humanitarian interest in military action stops at the achievement of the goal in question, whether stopping genocide in Serbia or removing Saddam.
Under the Clinton administration, Ms. Rice argued in an article in Foreign Affairs, "national interest" was too often replaced by "humanitarian interest" or the interests of "the international community".
In an article in Foreign Affairs, written during the campaign, Condoleezza Rice, who will be Mr. Bush's national security adviser, argued, for instance, that "national interest" was too often replaced by "humanitarian interest" or the interests of "the international community".
With Iran apparently working toward a program of nuclear arms, he suggested, an intervention was not just a matter of humanitarian interest but also one of national interest: "In all honesty, we're not talking about the Congo here, we're not talking about Rwanda, tragic as those were".
This is an area where we have a strong national interest, as well as a humanitarian interest, in playing a leadership role to help evict land mines from the arsenal of wars, and yet Pentagon complacency and President Bush's allergy to treaties together make it very likely that we will be part of the problem rather than the solution.
They all applaud Madonna for taking a personal and humanitarian interest in Malawi's one million orphans.
MS. RADDATZ: How about humanitarian interests?
There aren't any, other than humanitarian interests".
The "national interest" is replaced with "humanitarian interests" or the interests of "the international community".
Poverty is caused by the pursuit of commercial gain in preference to humanitarian interests.
As the expected strikes on Syria show once again, interventions are driven by military, ideological and humanitarian interests with relatively little regard for international law.
