The Right Thing

[poliphilo]

I believe it was the right thing to do to challenge Gaddafi.

When a murderous bully is gaining the upper hand- and you're bigger than he is and have a fair chance of stopping him, it's wrong to sit on your hands.

This intervention was possible. And the calculations suggest a fair outcome is likelier than a miserable one. 

I have, in the past, called myself a pacifist. Obviously this was a lie.

Comments

[arielstarshadow.livejournal.com]

Realizing that it's time someone needs to step up and stop the violence and atrocity doesn't make you a liar. There are all sorts of "flavors" of pacifism, and not all of them mean no violence, ever, under any circumstances. I'd say that it's more that you've realized that your desire for a lack of violence has a limit, and that limit has been reached:

...the obliteration of force except in cases where it is absolutely necessary to advance the cause of peace

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

I guess I'm one of the more nuanced kinds of pacifist.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

But under that definition surely pretty much everyone's a pacifist who isn't a psychopath. Most people who go to (or favour) war are against violence in general, but think that there are circumstances that justify it. Are they all pacifists?

[calizen.livejournal.com]

Excellent point. Pacifism is not a blank check to do nothing. It's a choice, always a choice, in all different kinds of situations.