On Lebanon

It comes down to a simple question: Is what Israel doing necessary to protect it's security?

If it IS necessary, then it's justifiable. If it's unnecessary, then it is collective punishment, and that's not only against the Geneva conventions but morally unjustifiable.

The question is not whether any action is necessary, though; the question is whether Israel's specific actions have been restrained to what necessity requires. Since the necessity in question is security, the key question in turn is whether Israel is increasing or decreasing its future security by employing such widespread bombing in Lebanon. If it breeds more terrorists through its actions than it eliminates and/or deters, then it's not helping its security, but engaging (unwittingly or not) in collective punishment, which is both illegal and morally unjustifiable.

(Yes, I'm aware that Hezbollah situates themselves within civilian areas in order to defend themselves. Unfortunately, that doesn't change the fate of those who are caught in the crossfire; dead is dead. You can't level a city to take out a few terrorists, any more than you could nuke a country to take out a few terrorists. The question has to be whether the civilian casualties are worth it, and so far, I haven't seen enough evidence that they are.

Unlike some, I think the jury is still out, but I don't think the evidence is on the side of the Israelis.

Soo....

So, North Korea is testing missiles, Japan's leadership seems bound and determined to use it to kill Article 9, Israel and Lebanon are at war (with more regional players likely about to get involved), and Russia made a lot of REALLY ominous comments prior to the G-8 meeting about having the west stay the hell out of their business.

If anybody wants me, I'll be building my colony ship. We'll probably need one, and I can borrow the plutonium needed to run it from Kim Jong-Il.

Happy Independence Day

to all the American readers out there. It was a revolution fought not just on behalf of a people, but on behalf of ideals; and it's those ideals that makes the United States special, not the number of aircraft carriers and MOABs it can bring to bear or how many self-serving theocrats are in its governing party.

Happy Canada Day- and Cheers to Americans, too

To any Canadian readers out there. I had meant what I said before about the possibilities inherent in Canadian liberalism, and I'm truly fascinated by the debate going on within the Liberal party over issues that, were it America, would be overwhelmed with twitching fear over looking "weak on defense" by the Usual Suspects.

Pity that the whole thing seems to be dominated by Ignatieff, everybody's favorite "liberal hawk", but the existence of the debate is welcome.

As for the "Cheers".. isn't it obvious? Gitmo is screwed, and trying to dodge the Geneva Convention is probably dead as well. Great news, probably the last bit of good news to come out of the Roberts court. I'll take what I can get, though.