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Walter, Say It Aint So

Terrorist supporters know we have this capacity, but because of worldwide public opinion, which often appears to be on their side, coupled with our weak will, we’ll never use it. Today’s Americans are vastly different from those of my generation who fought the life-and-death struggle of World War II. Any attempt to annihilate our Middle […]

Terrorist supporters know we have this capacity, but because of worldwide public opinion, which often appears to be on their side, coupled with our weak will, we’ll never use it. Today’s Americans are vastly different from those of my generation who fought the life-and-death struggle of World War II. Any attempt to annihilate our Middle East enemies would create all sorts of handwringing about the innocent lives lost, so-called collateral damage.

Such an argument would have fallen on deaf ears during World War II when we firebombed cities in Germany and Japan. The loss of lives through saturation bombing far exceeded those lost through the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. ~Walter Williams

Via Lew Rockwell

If Dr. Williams’ generation would have winked at the nuclear holocaust of countries that have not attacked us, I am pleased to be of a different breed.  I think he does his own generation a disservice.  But, indeed, we wouldn’t want any handwringing about the deaths of innocents.  That might be vaguely human.  Better to set them all on fire and raise a toast to human freedom.  I never thought I would see Walter Williams calling for unprovoked nuclear attacks.  In fairness, he says we shouldn’t “rush” to use our nukes on them–give it a little time!  So much for the principle of nonaggression!  There is something truly pathetic about a once-principled libertarian shilling for mass murder.  Krauthammer, Podhoretz, Sowell, Barnett–their contempt for the lives of innocents I can understand.  It is sheer ideological self-justification for them.  But Williams has normally been a fairly consistent opponent of government excesses and a serious libertarian.  Perhaps he has always held these views about the virtue of wartime atrocities and I missed it.  In any case, I am sorry to see Dr. Williams go down this very dark road.  Interventionism is poisoning our country and dragging some of its more thoughtful men into the moral mire.  It must be stopped.

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