War

I listened to Secretary of State John Kerry’s speech yesterday and was struck by the many times he spoke of killing with chemicals. Here is one example: The indiscriminate slaughter of civilians, the killing of women and children and innocent bystanders by chemical weapons is a moral obscenity. If I substitute the word bombs for chemical weapons it illustrates the disconnect we seem to have regarding death of innocent people. I believe that we make this distinction to justify past actions taken by the so called civilized societies. Recall that during WW11 the allies fire bombed cities in Japan and Germany deliberately targeting civilian populations with the goal of demoralizing the enemy and it worked. It likely shortened the war and saved the lives of many on the side of the allies. I point this out to illustrate the twisted logic needed to rationalize behavior especially when it comes to war.