You assume that all consciences will reach the same conclusion as yours. They don't. They haven't.
A military "accountability" of individual conscience would essentially be a reversion to feudalism, with armed power first migrating to leaders based on visions of conscience, then deteriorating to coalitions of interest. And now you're back at "might makes right" but without any ethic to get you out.
Even granting we are killing thousands of innocents without accountability, Manning's statement is not a safe way out.
> You assume that all consciences will reach the same conclusion as yours. They don't. They haven't.
That was my point. I was returning the undue egoism.
> And now you're back at "might makes right" but without any ethic to get you out.
That's where we are right now. It's the definition of democracy (close enough to republican government for the pedants).
> Even granting we are killing thousands of innocents without accountability, Manning's statement is not a safe way out.
Anything that reduces our imperialistic tendencies is safer than allowing the imperialistic tendencies to grow. To throw it back at you: might doesn't make right.
A military "accountability" of individual conscience would essentially be a reversion to feudalism, with armed power first migrating to leaders based on visions of conscience, then deteriorating to coalitions of interest. And now you're back at "might makes right" but without any ethic to get you out.
Even granting we are killing thousands of innocents without accountability, Manning's statement is not a safe way out.