The Moral Follies of Humanitarian Warfare

President Obama has made many arguments for his intervention in Syria. It’s necessary to enforce “international norms.” It will send Syrian President Assad a “message.” It would “degrade” Syria’s military capabilities and “deter” Assad from launching another chemical attack.

But in Stockholm the President raised the stakes. Responding to a question about how he could reconcile his call for military action with the peace message of that prize, the President said this: “. . . I would argue that when I see 400 children subjected to gas . . . and we have the opportunity to take some action that is meaningful, even if it doesn’t solve the entire problem may at least mitigate [it], then the moral thing to do is not to stand by and do nothing.”

Thus now the moral argument has been joined.