--- "J.D. Giorgis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Unprecedented Logic > Why slippery-slope arguments against invading Iraq > don't hold water. > By Eugene Volokh > http://slate.msn.com/?id=2080344 > > A pre-emptive U.S. attack on Iraq, Canadian Prime > Minister Jean Chr�tien has argued, "might be > considered as a precedent for others to try to do > the > same thing. Where do you stop? You know, if you can > do that there, why not elsewhere?" Democratic > presidential contender Howard Dean says the same > thing: "What is to prevent China, some years down > the > road, from saying, 'Look what the United States did > in Iraq�we're justified in going in and taking over > Taiwan'?" Should we be moved by this concern about > precedents, which is a form of the slippery-slope > argument? Not really, and here's why... <big snip> > ...Precedents and slippery slopes can be powerful > forces > and can sound like powerful arguments. We should > indeed think about the indirect consequences of our > actions, not just the immediate ones. But the > phrases > "what about the precedent?" and "where do you stop?" > don't magically mandate inaction. Rather, people who > make these arguments must concretely explain how our > action today would supposedly help lead to others' > action tomorrow. They haven't done so here. > > Our invading Iraq will not set a dangerous precedent > or much of a precedent at all. We should focus on > the costs and benefits of this war, and not on its > supposed precedential effects on future wars.
<grimace> Perhaps second thoughts are warranted: http://www.militarycity.com/iraq/1680212.html "...U.S. officials have said that Washington opposes a unilateral Turkish incursion in northern Iraq, but the United States has so far failed to convince Turkey to stay out of northern Iraq. In a meeting with White House special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and Iraqi Kurdish officials, Turks insisted Tuesday that they could cross into Iraq to protect their national interests..." http://www.abcnews.go.com/wire/World/reuters20030321_776.html TUNCELI, Turkey (Reuters) - Turkey sent a vanguard of commando troops into northern Iraq overnight in a move that courts U.S. anger and risks confrontation with local Kurdish authorities. A Turkish military source told Reuters about 1,500 commandos crossed Turkey's southern border at three points late on Friday, aiming to secure access for subsequent, larger deployments. "Turkish units have begun crossing into northern Iraq to take security measures at various points," the official said. The United States has told Turkey it would not welcome a unilateral incursion into northern Iraq, where local Kurds are suspicious of Turkish motives and have said such a move could lead to conflict. "These units will secure the safety of units that will follow. Further crossings will take place at various intervals," the Turkish military source said. He gave no timetable. Turkey says it needs its troops in Iraq to control refugees and forestall any attempt to create a Kurdish state -- a move it fears could reignite separatism on Turkish soil... Debbi VFP Irony __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Platinum - Watch CBS' NCAA March Madness, live on your desktop! http://platinum.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
