...In times of war, the law falls silent.
-Cicero
Just a little food for thought, an idea I have been brooding on ever since I watched a DS9 episode of the same name.
Is war ever a justification for a deed? Is it ever acceptable to - for example - betray trust and murder a person in order to save the lives of thousands more? I suppose Cicero was a little Utilitarian in his logic, but there is some weight behind is argument. Saddam Hussein died so that thousands more would not have to live under his regime any longer, but the question is, was that the right thing to do? Were we - we as in people, not the US specifically - justified in killing him? Should the law fall silent for us because we are in a time of war?
Perhaps it's not the right thing to do, or the wrong thing either for that matter - perhaps it is merely necessary, or even simpler: it just is.
