Saturday, June 19, 2004
PETER SINGER ON IRAQ
Yesterday night I caught parts of an interview with Peter Singer on BBC World. Now perhaps it was because I only saw parts of it, but I have to say: what a complete disappointment. The bit I was anxious about was the issue of the morality of regime change in Iraq. On this issue Singer was a complete dud. Singer was opposed to regime change, and with him being a bright mind and this being his speciality, I wanted to hear his moral case against OIF. It's not that I think he could have changed my mind; I just wanted to hear the argument, because so far I didn't really know what it was. Well, here is: " . . . the United Nations lay down the proper procedures . . . yes, if the UN had agreed that this was a breach . . . blah blah blah." How utterly disappointing. Even an amateur like me can figure out that the question of the UN was one of political and diplomatic expediency, but utterly devoid of moral worth. What annoyed me, was that this was coming from the man who challenged a lot of opinions of mine very strongly here, and was now parrotting out lame cliches. Staying on the theme of disappointment, rather predictably I suppose, Singer has a new book out in which he attacks . . . George Bush. Yawn.
Yesterday night I caught parts of an interview with Peter Singer on BBC World. Now perhaps it was because I only saw parts of it, but I have to say: what a complete disappointment. The bit I was anxious about was the issue of the morality of regime change in Iraq. On this issue Singer was a complete dud. Singer was opposed to regime change, and with him being a bright mind and this being his speciality, I wanted to hear his moral case against OIF. It's not that I think he could have changed my mind; I just wanted to hear the argument, because so far I didn't really know what it was. Well, here is: " . . . the United Nations lay down the proper procedures . . . yes, if the UN had agreed that this was a breach . . . blah blah blah." How utterly disappointing. Even an amateur like me can figure out that the question of the UN was one of political and diplomatic expediency, but utterly devoid of moral worth. What annoyed me, was that this was coming from the man who challenged a lot of opinions of mine very strongly here, and was now parrotting out lame cliches. Staying on the theme of disappointment, rather predictably I suppose, Singer has a new book out in which he attacks . . . George Bush. Yawn.
