I get he’s trying to make a point that Australia doesn’t want to be on the wrong side of history here, but I’m always confused by the term “illegal war”
Like would killing civilians like the US did for nearly 30 years in the Middle East be better just because a bunch of old dudes were guided into a fancy room by aides and mumbled to each other before signing a piece of paper that says it’s legal?
Yeah i agree - states are institutions dedicated to violence. Whether or not they did some arcane legal rituals before murdering iranians and americans is hardly the point.
But i do think it matters to show that the state is lying when it claims to use violence legitimately. It doesn’t even adher to its own made up rules.
And it matters that their violence is so unpopular that they can’t even let a body as unrepresentative as the US congress get a say.
I get he’s trying to make a point that Australia doesn’t want to be on the wrong side of history here, but I’m always confused by the term “illegal war”
Like would killing civilians like the US did for nearly 30 years in the Middle East be better just because a bunch of old dudes were guided into a fancy room by aides and mumbled to each other before signing a piece of paper that says it’s legal?
Yeah i agree - states are institutions dedicated to violence. Whether or not they did some arcane legal rituals before murdering iranians and americans is hardly the point.
But i do think it matters to show that the state is lying when it claims to use violence legitimately. It doesn’t even adher to its own made up rules.
And it matters that their violence is so unpopular that they can’t even let a body as unrepresentative as the US congress get a say.
Don’t confuse legality with morality