Frank's Musings

Many American combatants and allied soldiers in Afghanistan, Iraq or Syria possibly are discomfited with fighting wars that only seek to impose Western morals on other societies. These territories are dominated by people with a different code of ethics, especially when it comes to human rights.

^{Certainly the U.S. and its allies are right to defend themselves from violent attacks such as what occurred on 9/11/2001. However, they are not thereby authorized to change the way majorities in other territories wish to live their lives.  Not even the Universal Code of Human Rights sanctions that. There may be members of those societies who share Western values.  Moreover, there are many of them desperately trying to escape those territories and start living in Western countries like the U.S. where they will be protected from cultural repression.}

^{The U.S. and its allies may be compelled by their domestic politics to help foreign freedom seekers; but violent territorial invasion and regime change are not called for.  Blood and treasure may justifiably be spent, however, specifically to facilitate escape by dissenters from those cultures and their resettlement in Western countries.  But preventing a dominant majority group from setting the rules for living in its territory violates principles of national sovereignty that help maintain world peace.}

^{It must be hard to pursue a military career in a powerful country like the U.S. when it is governed by authorities that miss this distinction. A similar policy mistake may likewise characterize other countries dominated by cultures that believe their truths are universal.  Changing that belief, i.e., convincing people that each culture has relative not universal values, has long been the task of balancing the demands of cultural freedom and territorial integrity.}