This morning at breakfast I was reading an article in National Geographic about D-Day, and I began thinking about what it means to defend civilization, particularly in light of the current “war on terror.” During World War II, we committed unspeakable acts in defense of civilization. We fire bombed Dresden, we destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki with atomic weapons, and we sent Americans to battlefields all over the world knowing that tens of thousands of them would be killed. I imagine some people would disagree, but I think that those sacrifices were worth it. Had we done nothing, or done something different, I believe that the ultimate outcome would have been even worse.

So when I see people on television or in the papers talking about how the current “war on terror” is a war in defense of civilization, that’s the light I think of it in. A war in defense of civilization is a war that must be won regardless of cost, not just in terms of men and materiel, but in terms of the toll it takes on the character of a nation. So I question whether we’re at that point. Obviously we must thwart those people who are bent on doing us harm, but we’re not at the point where anything goes.

More importantly, I question the motives of those who use the “defense of civilization” rhetoric to justify their actions. Clearly we’re in danger, and clearly we have an enemy to fight, but nobody is served by overstating the threat we face or by making an already dramatic situation more dramatic. Just something to look out for …