Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Fog of War

No doubt, this is old news to you by now:
A former U.S. Army soldier was charged yesterday with the rape and murder of a young Iraqi woman and the slayings of three of her family members in their home south of Baghdad in March, federal prosecutors said.
The Cunning Realist has an observation with a subtle point hidden within:
The idiots who continue to insist that "these things happen during war" have stumbled unwittingly onto a partial truth. Yes, this is part of every war, and that's exactly why preemptive wars carry a unique risk. When the inevitable atrocities occur, they can be just as damaging to the aggressor as defeat on the battlefield---particularly for a nation that defines itself by moral exceptionalism.
In response to atrocity, this meme -- "these things happen during war" -- is being promoted by the apologists of the war in Iraq, more-or-less the same people who promoted the war before it turned into the quagmire and disaster it is today. But they would have you forget their eagerness to start the war in the first place.

If "these things happen during war", that makes the aggressor nation (us) no less culpable.

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3 Comments:

Blogger ericswan said...

I thought the word "war" required some qualification ie. combatants in uniform or at least a country to describe the combatants. If insurance companies can get out of paying claims simply by saying that damages resulting from "war" are not paid out etc. implies that there must be a definition somewhere which is legally binding. The "War Powers" president seems to get powers that he didn't have without there being a war.

My point...this "war" on terrorism is unconstitutional.

9:44 PM  
Blogger Pissedoffcabbie said...

War is like Halloween. For once, you get to be bad and get away with it.

1:41 AM  
Blogger DjMo9do said...

Bush is more willing to try diplomacy with North Korea because NK is not in the Bible. I think from reading Revelation and hearing fundamentalist church dictators (preachers) speak that they actually believe America would have to be destroyed for Jesus to come back. This sets in motion war in the middle east at the "end times". This also explains why they don't give a rat's ass about global warming. Sleep well, people!

12:04 PM  

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