You said our country should get points for past deeds. I said we can't justify our current actions with the thought that other countries should give us a break because we're all such great guys. We have to justify our current actions based on what our current actions produce.

Now you're trying to turn it into "being nice to monsters" instead of being humble about our place in the world. Not all the people, nor, I suspect, most of them, who live in the places where we have acted carelessly or thoughtlessly or improperly have been monsters. This is the most compelling reason for restraint I know. But if we wish to conduct our international behavior with ferocity, Sherman's March to the Sea is a very good model from our own history, including its aftermath and long-term effects.

I have read T.H. White. Arthur has been around longer than The Once and Future King. You may remember that negotiation was the first choice in Arthur's court, that charity was expected, and that humility was encouraged as a chivalric virtue. You may remember that Robin Hood was most famous for his support of those who had nothing, that he fought in self-defense, and that he yielded to rightful authority without self-indulgence.

To insist that the United States is an exception, to declare that we get a pass on our behavior because our motives are pure, is nothing like virtuous leadership. If we want to claim virtue, we have to act virtuously.