selective pacifism

[Kelley]

At 02:45 AM 11/30/01 -0600, Daniel Davies wrote:
>  Max wrote:
> > More generally, the presumption that using violence >is a losing game 
> because you create more enemies than you kill. I would >call  hat a 
> pacifist argument too.
>
>which can't be right.  The argument "war is a bad idea because you create
>more enemies than you kill" is not even a moral argument against war; it
>more  or less explicitly admits that it is not an argument against
>situations in which you can be confident that you won't create more enemies
>than you kill.

whatever it is, i happen to regard the argument as, again, blatantly 
opportunist for its logic would, in another situation, be vehemently 
opposed by many who've advocated here. it is an argument for enlightened 
self-interest and _that_ is something leftists frequently attack--as they 
should. applying it to this war in order to convince another leftist is 
insulting.

kelley