One Simple Basic Fact That Will Never Die

Once Upon a Time...: No, I Do Not Support "The Troops"

I have yet to see a convincing argument that these actions by the U.S. do not constitute war crimes. The reason for that is simple and unavoidable: such an argument does not exist -- not, that is, if one actually examines the relevant evidence. Almost all American politicians, and almost all commentators and bloggers, resolutely refuse to consider that evidence, just as they refuse to consider the conclusions it compels.

Silber hits out at everybody, just like WP - Atrios, ThinkProgress, everybody - and that's fair enough. Everybody loses sight of this single basic monumental lie. When allis said and done, if history is worth anything at all, the Iraq War will be remembered as the moment when the West sacrificed any lingering moral advantage from WWII.

I tell you what, I don't support the troops as an institution OR as individuals. Anyone who signs up to kill on demand is a fool, a tool, or a madman. Or all three, in most cases. Of course as Silber notes:

I will decline to pass moral judgment in an individual case. To make that kind of judgment, one would need certain information: the understanding of the particular individual him or herself, what information he is aware of and has access to, and similar kinds of matters.

But let's call a fool a fool eh? A fool or a tool - back in the 1960s it would have been an energising protest chant.

Or to put it another way:

"In armies, as one critic has noticed, where there must be unquestioning obedience, there must necessarily be passive injustice."

That's also a quote from Silber's piece.