redfiche's Journal: The Hawk's view (and mine)

Good article at MSNBC by William Saletan of Slate. He writes about the fallacy of calling war the last resort when dealing with someone who has historically only responded to force.

True words

[Dannon]

I don't think anyone in their right minds actually thinks that Saddam should be given the benefit of the doubt. For those that say his word should be trusted, I can only suspect that they are just looking for a way to malign the United States.

Some people are willing to comply with the police out of respect for what the police represent, that is, the need of a representative government to maintain a degree of order. Others are only willing to comply under threat of force. Saddam is clearly one of the latter group.

But law must be blind. It doesn't matter whether you are arrested peacefully or violently, you must be given the same due process. The reason behind this due process is also the reason behind the hoops we jump through for Saddam. It also gives our troops time to get ready, and it gives the United Nations one more chance to pretend that they're worth something. It also gives Saddam more time to get ready, but that's somewhat unavoidable.

War will be the last resort... hopefully because, once we're done with the fighting, no more 'resort' will be necessary. Kinda like how you always find your keys in the last place you look for them.

Re:True words

[redfiche]

Well said. It all comes down to believing in the rule of law. Saddam thinks he makes his own rules, but the society of nations represented by the UN will make him answer to a higher authority, and to obey the rules agreed upon by the majority. It's that or anarchy.