If there's a moral case for overthrowing a despot, then get in there and do it
Except that that makes you a despot yourself. Sometimes it's the only thing to do, but it's not strictly moral, and I don't believe it should be done unless there is truly no alternative at all. A moral regime change is about empowering the people of the country to make choices - and, no "empowering" isn't a pointless, wishy-washy word. It can mean "arming", it can mean "supporting with force", it can mean any of a range of things. What I think it doesn't mean is deciding to go in, kill lots of people, and put in either a US dictator, or a US-supported dictator.
I stopped believing the word moral had any kind of absolute meaning a loooong time ago.
And seeing as all of the Iraqi comments I've heard from outside of Iraq seem to be in favour of us invading, that seems empowering.
Of course I'm in agreement that US-imposed dictators are a bad thing. But the Japanese model (help rebuild the economy and then hand power back to an educated, self-reliant populace) seems like a good one.
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andrewducker) wrote2003-03-20 11:17 am
no subject
Except that that makes you a despot yourself. Sometimes it's the only thing to do, but it's not strictly moral, and I don't believe it should be done unless there is truly no alternative at all. A moral regime change is about empowering the people of the country to make choices - and, no "empowering" isn't a pointless, wishy-washy word. It can mean "arming", it can mean "supporting with force", it can mean any of a range of things. What I think it doesn't mean is deciding to go in, kill lots of people, and put in either a US dictator, or a US-supported dictator.
no subject
I stopped believing the word moral had any kind of absolute meaning a loooong time ago.
And seeing as all of the Iraqi comments I've heard from outside of Iraq seem to be in favour of us invading, that seems empowering.
Of course I'm in agreement that US-imposed dictators are a bad thing. But the Japanese model (help rebuild the economy and then hand power back to an educated, self-reliant populace) seems like a good one.