| It is all a matter of circumstance. If it were a case of killing massive numbers of foreigners in order to avoid even more fatalities on both sides, due to the price of a direct engagement or prolongation of a war, it would be justified. This is the situation I construe us to have been in when we dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. If I were trading the lives of 1000 foreigners for 1000 Americans, due to a conflict brought on by the provocation of the foreign government, I would rather the 1000 foreigners die. If it were a question of killing a million enemy soldiers to save ten thousand of our soldiers, I would do it, if I could see no other way of bringing the matter to a close. If it were a case of demonstrating the will without which deterrence fails, then yes, I would retaliate with at least proportional force, and possibly worse, to the use of WMDs against our citizens. On the other hand, I do not like the idea of killing anyone, especially indiscriminately, so I would hope to avoid such dilemmas....... |
