[thechat] When is it time for war?

Martin Burns martin at easyweb.co.uk
Wed Mar 26 00:57:30 CST 2003


On 26 Mar 2003, John Handelaar wrote:

> On Wed, 2003-03-26 at 00:49, Bill Haenel wrote:
> >
> > When is war justified?
>
> Partly, you know them when you see them. WW2?
> I can't argue against it morally.

However, it's easier to assess in retrospect...

> > Are there other circumstances under which war is okay?
>
> Leaving that one open for now.  My main moral position is that
> you avert the deaths of civilians at any cost.  Ergo I'm of the
> opinion that there are some things we *didn't* do which we
> probably should have, which *may* include:
>
> a) Republic of South Africa circa 1981
> b) Action to secure Palestinian and Lebanese territory (and
>    *not*, for the record, to diminish Israel's recognised
>    borders) against both Israel and foreign-backed terrorist
>    organisations at any one of several points between 1975 and
>    now, with a specific reference to Lebanon in 1982 (which
>    failed primarily because it couldn't be done without
>    giving assistance to Palestine at the same time, and the
>    obvious lack of intention in one caused the failure in the
>    other).

To which you can add a large number of other repressive regimes around the
world now and in the last century. North Korea, Chile, Burma make it to
the list. Cuba doesn't.

> The US is supposed to be the good guy

Depends on whether you believe the rhetoric or the actions of the nation.
The populace seem to believe the former. Much of the Middle East believes
the latter. That there is a disconnect signals that something is up with
democracy.

Cheers
Martin
-- 
"Names, once they are in common use, quickly
 become mere sounds, their etymology being
 buried, like so many of the earth's marvels,
 beneath the dust of habit." - Salman Rushdie



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