[johnny cash - american iv]
i got sent this wendell berry essay against the iraq war. nice work by berry...
there was a article in my school's newsletter this week in response to all the anti-war articles lately. he was arguing for the attack on iraq as a justified preventive action but in the midst of this line of thinking, he cited the dropping of the atomic bombs in ww2 as an example of the efficacy of preventive military actions. the dropping of the bombs, he argued, quickened the surrender of the japanese and prevented further loss of life in the pacific theatre. arguing for action in iraq is one thing but to justify it using one of the most tragic moments in world history is pretty myopic.
how can one offer the strategic killing of non-combatants in japan during ww2 as support for a so-called "just" war? terrorism is described by our current government as, "premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against innocents" in the national security strategy (2002). truman and the us military should be considered terrorists according to our own definition. (not that that's surprising.) doesn't that make the attack on pearl harbor a justified preventive action by the japanese? (yes, i realise that i'm being argumentative here but you can see how grotesque these attempts to justify preventive actions can become)...
beyond the fact that the actions of the us in ww2 can be construed proto-terroristic, these actions initiated the cold war, the arms race and the international weapons trade --all of which are well-documented causes of the current crisis in iraq. not to mention north korea (i'm ignoring pyongyang, however, following the example of the usa and u.n.).
if you're going to argue for a "just" war in iraq, use something less problematic as an example of a preventive military action than the a-bomb in japan. but that will be hard since preventive military actions do not prevent unfavorable outcomes (much like the prevent defense in football). violence begets violence. war begets war. and the only true preventive strategy is to address the injustices which oppress those that are so angry with the usa.
i got sent this wendell berry essay against the iraq war. nice work by berry...
there was a article in my school's newsletter this week in response to all the anti-war articles lately. he was arguing for the attack on iraq as a justified preventive action but in the midst of this line of thinking, he cited the dropping of the atomic bombs in ww2 as an example of the efficacy of preventive military actions. the dropping of the bombs, he argued, quickened the surrender of the japanese and prevented further loss of life in the pacific theatre. arguing for action in iraq is one thing but to justify it using one of the most tragic moments in world history is pretty myopic.
how can one offer the strategic killing of non-combatants in japan during ww2 as support for a so-called "just" war? terrorism is described by our current government as, "premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against innocents" in the national security strategy (2002). truman and the us military should be considered terrorists according to our own definition. (not that that's surprising.) doesn't that make the attack on pearl harbor a justified preventive action by the japanese? (yes, i realise that i'm being argumentative here but you can see how grotesque these attempts to justify preventive actions can become)...
beyond the fact that the actions of the us in ww2 can be construed proto-terroristic, these actions initiated the cold war, the arms race and the international weapons trade --all of which are well-documented causes of the current crisis in iraq. not to mention north korea (i'm ignoring pyongyang, however, following the example of the usa and u.n.).
if you're going to argue for a "just" war in iraq, use something less problematic as an example of a preventive military action than the a-bomb in japan. but that will be hard since preventive military actions do not prevent unfavorable outcomes (much like the prevent defense in football). violence begets violence. war begets war. and the only true preventive strategy is to address the injustices which oppress those that are so angry with the usa.
