Re: And how did you celebrate 1 May?

In article <fvt7r4$arm$1@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
 wdstarr@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 (William December Starr) wrote:

> In article <ddfr-5DD1AA.01231907052008@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
> David Friedman <ddfr@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> said:
> 
> > Getting back to the current Iraq war. It wouldn't have happened if
> > the U.S. hadn't attacked. It also wouldn't have happened if, as
> > soon as it was clear the U.S. was going to attack, Iraq had
> > surrendered. Does that mean that both the U.S. and Iraq get
> > credited with all resulting deaths?
> >
> > I think that "people killed by the U.S. government" implies
> > something a good deal stronger than "people who would not have
> > died if the U.S. government had followed a different policy." Do
> > you want to argue that the Jews Hitler murdered were "killed by
> > the British and French government?" It's at least arguable that if
> > they had taken a stronger stand against Hitler earlier, he would
> > have fallen from power.
> 
> I think that the Iraq War of 2003 (let's just call it that
> colloquially and leave the "is it technically a war?" argument for
> another thread, okay?) was entirely the responsibility/fault of the
> United States.  The people running the Bush Administration had
> decided that they wanted the United States to conquer Iraq, that
> they would settle for nothing less, and that they would use any
> deception, ruse, subterfuge, etc., necessary to cause it to happen.
> It was and is their fault, and since these people were,
> unfortunately, the official agents of the nation, the nation is
> likewise responsible for the war, and its casualties.
> 
> "Well, they *could* have just surrendered, you know" is hardly a
> valid mechanism for transfering the blame for an unjustified attack.

Along similar lines, you would say that the people killed by the bombing 
of Hiroshima and Nagasake were "killed by" the Japanese government, and 
the victims of the bombing at Dresden and elsewhere were "killed by" the 
Nazis?

I think describing someone as "killed by government X" when you mean 
"killed in a war started by government X" is, to put it mildly, 
misleading.

-- 
 http://www.daviddfriedman.com/
http://daviddfriedman.blogspot.com/
 Author of _Harald_, a fantasy without magic.
 Published by Baen, paperback in bookstores now