You heard the war's humanitarian rationale but hated to react like a trigger-happy Republican. If only you could subscribe to a case for military intervention defined by the values of the left, not the right. Well, you're in luck. This is an indictment to which the left should proudly plead guilty. But let's hear the prosecution's case, count by count.
Republican hawks define vital interests as oil, economic gain, and political and military power.
Some even argue that altruism is immoral. Far from wanting to see America as the world's policeman, conservatives can't stand the job. Like comfortable suburbanites in gated communities, they'd rather build a missile defense system to keep our neighborhood safe while people kill each other on the wrong side of the global tracks. These arguments are sure to resurface if and when ethnic slaughter resumes in central Africa. The only thing worse than police work, in the eyes of conservatives, is social work.