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Dear list: On comparing the sanctions on Iraq and the terrorist attack on the US: 1. The deliberate killing of innocents is morally worse than killing innocents as an unintended consequence of the pursuit of the guilty. In this sense, the terrorist attack on the US is morally worse than the sanctions on Iraq. 2. More deaths of innocents is morally worse than fewer deaths of innocents. In this sense, the sanctions on Iraq are morally worse than the terrorist attack on the US. 3. In either case, deaths of innocents which one fully anticipates are morally worse than deaths of innocents which are unanticipated. In this sense, the terrorist attack on the US is morally worse than the sanctions on Iraq only to a very limited degree, as after a very short time (a matter of less than six months at most), the catastrophic consequences were well known to decision-makers and have continued to be known to them. How one weighs these three factors is a subjective one which produces one's overall evaluation. As far as condemning something while attempting to understand it is concerned, consistency is vital here. Whether something is right or wrong, one should attempt to understand it. The problem here is when the ambiguous word 'understand' is used to mean not merely comprehend but also to imply moral mitigation selectively. I condemn both the sanctions and the terrorist attack. I also seek to comprehend both, as part of my desire to end the sanctions and prevent further terrorist attacks. As far as Just War theory is concerned with regard to a US military response, the burden of proof regarding all its elements (in particular a reasonable prospect that there will be success and that the foreseeable good will not be outweighed by the harm) is on the US government. In a sense there are merely statements of the obvious, but only from a particular moral position. Eric ---------------------- Dr. Eric Herring Department of Politics University of Bristol 10 Priory Road Bristol BS8 1TU England, UK Tel. +44-(0)117-928-8582 Fax +44-(0)117-973-2133 http://www.bris.ac.uk/Depts/Politics eric.herring@bristol.ac.uk -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This is a discussion list run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq For removal from list, email soc-casi-discuss-request@lists.cam.ac.uk CASI's website - www.casi.org.uk - includes an archive of all postings.