Quote:
Originally Posted by Seer666
Violence is a tool like any other, it's all in how it's applied. To say that it is inherently wrong or unethical is, in my view, ignorant. Sometimes, violence is the only proper course of action.
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Violence is most certainly not a tool
like any other. A pencil doesn't end a life. I shouldn't need to elaborate on that point.
Characterizing violence as a tool in any sense is also a mistake, in my opinion. It is an action. The tool is the fist or rifle used for the purpose of violence. Both may have instrumental value, but that is the extent of their similarity.
I am in favor of violence when it is in direct defense against harm, and no peaceful alternatives exist that would prevent the aforementioned harm from occuring.
As I understand the typical military organization, its primary purpose is to protect national interests, not lives. I oppose any sort of entity that places greater value on a nation or its citizens than that of a foreign group of humans. If the military were primarily interested in defending lives, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis wouldn't be decomposing in mass graves.
I am interested in understanding your ethical justification for placing greater value on one nation's citizens over another's, assuming you do.