The R2P Ethical Challenge and Libya

[stephanie]

Originally Posted by badhatharry

This is what I said

Yes, and I don't see the inconsistency, I'm afraid. In fact, I think it's pretty obvious that I didn't misstate what you said, but responded to it.

You consistently mis-state what I say. I am not sure why that is. I never said that most on the left are (this or that). I was speaking of the subset of the left that is anti-war. Although the quotation above may be vague, I believe in the context of our conversation my intent was clear.

Yes, and most on the left who are anti-war are not pacifists, because -- as I said -- the vast majority of people on the left (as I defined "the left") are not pacifist. The fact that only a subset of the left are anti-war in any particular case does not affect my point unless you are claiming that it's only a small percentage of the left who are every against a war, which is clearly false. Certainly with regard to the current intervention and the last (Iraq), as well as various others that have been discussed recently (bombing Iran, say).

Thus, the claim that there are distinctive right and left views about war or for being against war still seems to me to be inaccurate.