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Pastimes : The Boxing Ring Revived -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lane3 who wrote (4594)	2/18/2003 2:43:06 PM
From: The Philosopher	Respond to of 7720

Seems to me that civilized people save war for a last resort and they never, ever wage an offensive war. I agree with the first half. I question the second half. Perhaps because I don't know what the term "offensive war" means. For example: was the American Revolution a defensive or offensive war? We clearly initiated it. Was that offensive, and was the US wrong to have waged that war? Or were the actions of the British sufficiently hostile that it was in fact a defensive war? I would need to know how you're defining the terms. Was the civil war a defensive or offensive war, and on whose side was it which? Was the Korean war offensive of defensive on our part? How about WW II -- as to Japan, it could clearly be argued to be defensive after Pearl Harbor, although we had been pretty hostile to Japan prior to that. But against Germany??? Defensive or offensive?? And how about the war against Afghanistan, which if I recall correctly you said you supported. Afghanistan itself hadn't done anything to us. Was that a defensive war? Or an offensive one?? Wars never have simple, clear causes. Their causes are always mixed up with all sorts of things. I'm not sure the terms offensive and defensive are very often applicable. But I'm willing to consider them if you can clarify for me how you're using them. As to your other point, I think the "axis of evil" and "war against terrorism" were in a way a not very clear but an implied announcement of a policy to go after both the terrorists and the states that harbor them. At least as clear as most foreign policy statements of our government are. <g>.