Except that we're the Germans in this war. The Americans started it for no legitimate reason at all. That means nothing to you. > [Original Message] > From: Eric Yost <mr.eric.yost@xxxxxxxxx> > To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> > Date: 11/11/2005 8:57:42 AM > Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Willie Pete's Role Reversal > > Phil: If we want to make moral judgments, then we have to make > moral distinctions. As far as I can tell, M. Chase declines to > make such distinctions so I don't see any grounds for moral > judgments. I have difficulty imagining how the Bush > administration could have done a worse job of fucking-up the > situation in Iraq but the fact remains that the U.S. soldiers in > Iraq are under orders to do all they can to avoid civilian > casualties. This distinguishes them, morally, from al-Zarqawi > and his ilk. > > _____ > > That sums it up. As I wrote to Judy a couple days ago, the worst > mistakes of the US troops resemble the day-to-day strategy of the > insurgency. > > Mike Chase says war crimes are war crimes, wrongful deaths are > wrongful deaths. So he would make no distinction between an > Allied soldier in World War 2 who accidentally shot a civilian in > a firefight and a German soldier in Auschwitz who turned on the > Xyclon-B gas in an extermination room. > > That's convenient if your motive is to ignore the agency of > individual soldiers and instead concentrate on hated icons like > Bush & Co. Very convenient. You can say that Eisenhower > accidentally shot the civilian and Adolf Hitler turned on the gas > in that particular room. It wouldn't be true but you could say > it. Then you could foam at the mouth and posture moral outrage. > It's something to do I guess. > > ------------------------------------------------------------------ > To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, > digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html