<<< I can buy an argument about lack of jurisdiction, but not the argument that it's immoral. Standing by idly while someone is victimized before your very eyes, that's immoral.>>>
I think it was Napolean who said if you are going to (take) Vienna, go to Vienna.
If we claim to be guided by our Christian heritage, then we can not so easily dismiss Christian core values.
There is nothing Christian about using deadly force in a premptive strike - especially when innocent people are collateral damage.
On the one hand you have Bill O'Reilly who sells factor gear on his website advocating preemptive action - but on the other hand you have the Pope, the Roman Catholic Church, all the theologians past and present (a very long list), give or take a few years, two thousand years of history - all against premptive killings.
Still if you said that we took these actions to save Iraqi people from terror - there still would be tremendous arguments against it. But if we muddle it by saying that it is in our own best interests, that is a totally different argument.
For me, what is done is done, we have to go on from here. So what if we made mistakes. Go back to square one. Clear up our thinking. What is in our best interest? Where do we go from here? How is it consistent with our core values?
As much as I dislike the use of deadly force, I absolutely love our military as it is now constituted. It is a professional organization - it does what it does better than anyone ever. It is a model for diversity and equal opportunity. But, that is another story. |
