Learn This Much
There are a handful of rules I feel you should have to learn before you take over leadership of a country – any country. I find myself wishing that somebody had hammered these rules into Dubya’s head before he was allowed to take the oath of office – Supreme Court decision or no.
First: Honor all of your treaties even if it’s only because you want other countries to honor their treaties with you.
Second: Follow the Geneva Conventions at all times at the very least because you want other countries who capture your people to treat them humanely, as well.
Third: When you blunder forth with a doctrine of pre-emptive strikes, you can pretty much expect that others will decide that it’s a good idea, too. And, since they’ll know that you like pre-emptive strikes, you will probably wind up in their sights.
Iranian Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani warned that Iran might launch a preemptive strike against US forces in the region to prevent an attack on its nuclear facilities.“We will not sit (with arms folded) to wait for what others will do to us. Some military commanders in Iran are convinced that preventive operations which the Americans talk about are not their monopoly,” Shamkhani told Al-Jazeera TV when asked if Iran would respond to an American attack on its nuclear facilities.
Even if you’re not fond of human and civil rights, and even if you have no sympathy for anybody else – at the very least, enlightened self-interest should play some sort of role in your decision making.
[link via Pesky’Apostrophe]