I'm certainly not unmindful of the killings of "his own people" (as opposed to America's killings of "Those People" in Iraq and Afghanistan) carried out by Gadhafi. I just don't believe in the "right" of the US Military to intervene anywhere and everywhere it defines it's "Interests" to be at stake. Nor do I believe the US has the moral right to occupy 140 countries with more than 700 military bases.
And, though I am far less knowledgeable about the global legal scene, many observers far more lettered than myself have characterized a lengthy list of US military strikes as clear violations of international law. Noam Chomsky comes to mind.
I relish bringing up the illegality of all US interventions since 1945 mainly in order to add yet more weight to my anti-war position. It never ceases to amaze, the humungous percentage of Americans who are unaware of Congress's specified war-making powers. It's SO satisfying to find the majority of said people are unable to refute THAT argument. You will often be met with apparently befuddled, even embarrassed silence from them.
But there is more. I certainly don't approve of a whole lot of statutes on the books these days. I would like to see each and every prohibition against controlled substances eliminated; they do more harm, by far, than good. But when it comes to the conduct of the world's only Ueberpower, I stongly believe The US Constitution and International Law have their rightful place. I was very much in favor, for example, of the World Court's 1986 ruling, when it found the US in violation for its support of the Contras and the mining of Nicaraguan harbors. Of course I realize that court in The Hague had no EFFECTIVE jurisdiction, but those on the correct side of an issue often have only their moral authority.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
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