The ends justifies the means...
Is that what you're saying?
SDAI: "A war against Saddam which kills civilians is evil. But when put into context against the threat of someone who has developed chemical weapons and is trying to develop nuclear weaponry - it becomes much less evil."
Hmmm....
As discussed by Mortimer J. Adler, if part of the "means" is bad (or evil, if you prefer), then that makes the "end" bad... as Adler says "you can't build a good house from bad materials".
So how many innocents is it OK to kill, in order to take care of the SH problem? 10? 1,000? 1,000,000?
And by the way, to my way of thinking, good and depravity/evil are absolutes.
And wilful ignorance is depraved/evil.