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“This was a horrible accident, but you have to realize there are probably some very bad people they intended to target and the US doesn't blow up random Afghan
by mikeash 7y ago
“This was a horrible accident, but you have to realize there are probably some very bad people they intended to target and the US doesn't blow up random Afghan farmers for fun and games.”
We wouldn’t accept this excuse in my hypothetical, so we shouldn’t accept this excuse when we’re the ones murdering dozens of innocents.
- rayiner 7y agoWe wouldn’t accept the excuse because what China would be fighting for in your hypothetical would be bad, while what we’re fighting for is good. You can’t just transpose the hypothetical to suggest hypocrisy because there is none.
- mikeash 7y agoI didn’t say what China was fighting for. Why are you so sure it’s bad?
- rayiner 7y agoBecause they’re a communist regime?
- mikeash 7y agoSo anything they fight for must be bad no matter what it is? Even if they’re hunting down ISIS and al Qaeda members just like we are?
- rayiner 7y agoI assumed your hypothetical was framed in terms of the existing situation and interests. That it wasn’t along the lines of: “the US government has fallen to ISIS and cannot police its own territory; China accidentally kills some US civilians while bombing extremists.” If that was your hypothetical, then I think you’d be surprised how few Americans would be outraged. I’m pretty sure it’d make for a decent movie.
- mikeash 7y agoSure, it’s in terms of the existing situation. Why can’t there be an ISIS cell in the US right now, or at least why can’t the Chinese think there is one?
- likpok 7y agoBecause the US government is a) strong and b) doesn't think there's one. Neither of those is true of Afghanistan. The Taliban is quite capable of at least holding on, and the non-Taliban Afghani government isn't opposed to US support. As evidence of this, President Ghani's reaction was to promise check and balances to reduce casualties, not kick the US out of the country.
- mikeash 7y agoSo it’s nothing about the morality of killing dozens of innocents. It’s just might makes right?