Off Topic — HabitableZone

Off Topic

Another article on targeting civilians

Among other subjects. From that right-wing rag, The New Republic.

...The tactic of deliberately attacking civilians, which the Palestinians are so obtusely debating (and much of the world is so readily tolerating), depends for its success only on the moral superiority of the adversary--on the willingness of the Israelis to refrain from the abhorrent behavior the Palestinians broadly support. Similarly, Osama bin Laden's widely held belief that he promotes Islam by destroying the World Trade Center is dependent on America's willingness to refrain from destroying the sacred sites of Islam, which it could surely do. By relying on the superior morality of their enemies, the advocates of terrorism concede their own immorality and forfeit their own legitimacy.

The technique of immoral or amoral types using the moral strengths of good people as weapons against those same people was a common theme in Ayn Rand's writings, and was the core of many dramatic themes in her fiction. The one common factor was that the moral people were often unaware of the specifics of their own moral code, rendering them vulnerable to this tactic.

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