George Monbiot (Guardian Utd): The moral myth

[Jack Rabbit]

From the Guardian Unlimited (UK)
Dated Tuesday November 25

The moral myth
Superpowers act out of self-interest, not morality, and the US in Iraq is no different
By George Monbiot

It is no use telling the hawks that bombing a country in which al-Qaida was not operating was unlikely to rid the world of al-Qaida. It is no use arguing that had the billions spent on the war with Iraq been used instead for intelligence and security, atrocities such as last week's attacks in Istanbul may have been prevented. As soon as one argument for the invasion and occupation of Iraq collapses, they switch to another. Over the past month, almost all the warriors - Bush, Blair and the belligerents in both the conservative and the liberal press - have fallen back on the last line of defence, the argument we know as "the moral case for war".
Challenged in the Commons by Scottish Nationalist MP Pete Wishart last Wednesday over those devilishly uncooperative weapons of mass destruction, for example, Tony Blair dodged the question. "What everyone should realise is that if people like the honourable gentleman had had their way, Saddam Hussein, his sons and his henchmen would still be terrorising people in Iraq. I find it quite extraordinary that he thinks that that would be a preferable state of affairs."
I do believe that there was a moral case for deposing Saddam - who was one of the world's most revolting tyrants - by violent means. I also believe that there was a moral case for not doing so, and that this case was the stronger. That Saddam is no longer president of Iraq is, without question, a good thing. But against this we must weigh the killing or mutilation of thousands of people; the possibility of civil war in Iraq; the anger and resentment the invasion has generated throughout the Muslim world and the creation, as a result, of a more hospitable environment in which terrorists can operate; the reassertion of imperial power; and the vitiation of international law. It seems to me that these costs outweigh the undoubted benefit.
But the key point, overlooked by all those who have made the moral case for war, is this: that a moral case is not the same as a moral reason. Whatever the argument for toppling Saddam on humanitarian grounds may have been, this is not why Bush and Blair went to war.

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[Malva Zebrina]

1. I really like Monbiot's columns

He is capable of deep and sophisticated, complicated analysis

At this point, I am tired of in depth analysis. Not to criticize the intellectual capabilities of Monbiot and those like him, it is just that today, after the Medicare debacle and the poor showing of the Democrats to protect their most vunlerable and weak consitituants, I think it is time to take to the streets, be that metaphorically or in real time.

[Cha]

2. This is great...I love George Monbiot's way

with words...
"It is no use telling the hawks that bombing a country in which al-Qaida was not operating was unlikely to rid the world of al-Qaida. It is no use arguing that had the billions spent on the war with Iraq been used instead for intelligence and security, atrocities such as last week's attacks in Istanbul may have been prevented. As soon as one argument for the invasion and occupation of Iraq collapses, they switch to another. Over the past month, almost all the warriors - Bush, Blair and the belligerents in both the conservative and the liberal press - have fallen back on the last line of defence, the argument we know as "the moral case for war"."

[Cha]

3. Somebody ought to tell tony that all

those innocent lives that were lost with our bombs were not worth butting into sadam's business. And it only stirred up a hornet's nest and pandora's box and that he&bush will be paying for their blood for an eternity.

[glitch]

4. Monbiot is always good

But I kind of agree with Marianne. I keep thinking as I read of each new atrocity of one of my favorite quotes from Young Dr. Frankenstein:

A riot is an ugly thing, and I think it just about time that we had one!