>
>Justin wrote:
> > I guess I'm partly a believer inthe old Westaphalian system of
>international
> > respect for sovereignty and the quaint international law idea,
>
>We've had this discussion before. Laws don't command unconditional
>respect.
No shit.
>
> > technically part of the lw of the land in the US, since it is party of
>the UN Charter, > that no nation may use force except in self-defense if
>actually attacked,
>
>Gee. What a wonderful charter: if a government decides to brutalize it's
>own people, it'll do so with the knowledge that forcible intervention from
>outside isn't going to ensue.
Quite right. And this has an excellent utilitarian justification. It preserves the peace.
>
> > and not even then if you can go to the UN first. But I am not in tune
>with
> > new thinking that allows civilized nations to impose theie ways on those
> > sitting in darkness, or did Maek Twain say that about our attempt to
> > liberate the Philippines from Spain domination?
>
>Bullshit. As I said before, the regime that would follow Saddam's would
>almost likely be less of an imposistion upon Iraqis than Saddam's regime
>itself.
>
A call that is not yours to make.
> > Maybe it is not such new
> > thinking after all. There was a name for it once, started with an "I,"
>but
> > it escapes me just now. Fortunately, our elections are marvelously
> > democratic...
>
>Care to actually deny that our government is actually a much closer
>apporximation of democracy than Iraq's?
>
Courese not, but that fact doesn't give it the right to impose its way all over the earth, and its very grave deficiencies make high-mindedness a lot less credible. Undoubtedly the US doesn't givea shit for Saddam's evil, since it is largely responsible for it, but caresa lot about oil and global military strategic power, which it's not so great to have concentrated in the unilateral hand of trigger happy killers loike the Bushies.
> > Jesus Christ, Brad, are you trying to give liberals a bad name?
>
>One could ask the same of you and leftists.
>
Recall that I'm a liberal as well as a leftist. I'm trying to preserve our good name against the likes of you and Brad.
jks
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