Quote:
Originally posted by Undertoad
This isn't a popularity contest. You just have to try to do the right thing and bring along the ones who agree.
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The trouble with that reasoning is that it's basically the same justification that al-Qaida uses. In their own view, they are doing what is right, and it doesn't trouble them that few agree. And the nazis found nothing wrong with their unpopular actions.
In the grand world-view of right-and-wrong, there is a tiny little shred of white and a miniscule little scrap of black bookending a huge gray expanse. Almost nothing cleanly fits into "right" or "wrong" as far as the world in whole is concerned. So obviously it is next to impossible that
everybody, or even a majority, will condone any particular action. But when we find the majority of the world, including some long-time allies, condemning our actions as wrong, we might want to step back a minute and make sure our country's moral compass is calibrated.
Is the world a safer place without Saddam's regime in Iraq? Yes. But many could argue that the world would be a safer place if the US were slapped down, ending what many view a largely unjustified, heavy-handed crusade. No WMDs were found, nor any truly convincing evidence of them. Sure, Saddam was evil, but using that justification is a bit like a cop beating a suspect with a nightstick because he thinks the guy might have a gun tucked in his pants, and upon discovring the suspect was unarmed, justifies the action by saying the suspect was a bad person. Justifiable? Sort of. But what happened to "innocent until proven guilty" or even "probable cause?"
I'm not necessarily arguing that the US has done wrong, only that it is dangerous to disregard the world's opinion and act solely on one's own definition of right and wrong, consequences be damned. Yes, it is possible to be the only one who is right amongst resistance, but it is more likely to be the only one who is wrong. And when one acts in the belief that they are right, agaist great opposition, one had best be ready to accept the consequences should they prove to be mistaken.
For the record, I love the United States... I think it is the greatest country this world has ever known. But I have mixed feelings about our recent actions, and I have very real concerns about what is on the horizon.