Talking About War
Here’s one question I have about the idea of starting a war with the government of Syria to halt their repression: Would military action be likely to, on net, increase or decrease the number of civilians who end up getting killed?
A second question: Would a new post-Assad regime be likely to have a better general human rights record than Assad’s?
If the answer to those questions are both “yes” then it seems to me we have the groundwork in place for an argument about the larger legal and diplomatic ramifications of launching a new war. Naturally Leon Wieseltier doesn’t so much as mention either question in his article calling for war. He doesn’t think the question of whether or not his proposal would improve the situation is an interesting or important one. He wants to have some other argument that’s completely abstracted away from the question of what the consequences of his proposals would be. It’s a fun mind-set. I dunno.
