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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW More thunderstorms expected ... Stay out of the creek, officials warn ... Motor home destroyed in Talent-area fire ... More thunderstorms expected ... Stay out of the creek, officials warn ... Motor home destroyed in Talent-area fire ... RELOCATIONS Herb Rothschild: What to do about ISIS? Comment DailyTidings.com Writer Posted Feb. 28, 2015 at 12:01 AM Posted Feb. 28, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Social News My next column will mark six months of publication. In it I’ll reflect on my intentions for the column and invite you to help me achieve them. One thing I’ll ask of you is to question more openly my assertions. There was one question I thought my column last Saturday would surely prompt. You may remember that I spoke unequivocally against spilling more blood in the Middle East to achieve whatever elusive goals we’ve been pursuing there since the invasion of Iraq. More than one of you must have asked yourself (though not me), “But what should we do about ISIS? Are we simply to let them be? Their behavior is dreadful.” This specific question opens more general ones, such as the role of the U.S. in the world and the legitimacy of military force. I cannot hope to discuss adequately such weighty questions in a single column. Today I’ll make a few points and anticipate a continuing discussion. First, ISIS. What we hear about their conduct — and we only hear what we are meant to hear — is appalling. Unfortunately, ISIS is not unique. There are numerous governments and rebel groups that rival ISIS in brutality and in religious intolerance. Which ones are singled out for attention depends on where the White House believes it will be useful to direct our easily aroused moral outrage. Take eastern Congo, for example. There, a variety of players — governments and warlords — have caused more than 2 million deaths and terrible suffering. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival stirred our consciences when it staged Lynn Nottage's “Ruined” in 2010. In contrast, no administration has chosen to spotlight that horror as it continues year after year. Beyond indifference to the depredations of many morally repugnant regimes, our government has had supportive relations with many others — the Shah of Iran, Pinochet of Chile, Suharto of Indonesia, Abacha of Nigeria, Marcos of the Philippines, to name a few despots we found congenial. Most tell-tale, perhaps, were our close ties to Saddam Hussein during the 1980s, even aiding his chemical weapons program. Only when it suited their turn did George W. Bush and the Neocons hold him up as a monster. My point is this: that any claim we might make for being humankind’s moral champion has been so compromised by inconsistencies dictated by motives at odds with morality that the world just doesn’t buy our claim. We shouldn’t either. So if something is to be done militarily about ISIS, we are not the ones to do it. Connected to that point is my second: Any such intervention is the responsibility of the United Nations. The world would be much better off if, like less powerful countries, the U.S. behaved as a global citizen, not a self-styled exceptional nation. If we had to act within an international legal framework, we couldn’t pursue selfish aims under the guise of altruism. Last, a word about war. That human beings organize ourselves to kill each other is an offense to the human spirit. At the least, those who advocate war should have to convince us that their end is indisputably moral, that it is achievable, that there is no other way to achieve it, and that the war they propose won’t cause at least as much harm as it aims to prevent. There is a finality about killing a human being. There is nothing final about the consequences of doing so. Let us rightly order ourselves before we presume to order the future. Herb Rothschild Jr. is chairman of the board of Peace House.   DailyTidings.com Writer Posted Feb. 28, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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