Holy sh*t, did you just use the analogy of hitting women who disobey you as an argument in favor of your position? I mean, I hope future generations will be just as shocked at the idea of hitting children for disobedience as I am of hitting women for that reason, but seriously, in 2007, you actually said…??

Current thinking, as espoused in child-rearing books, is that you should never spank children (yours or others’). I suspect most parents find it hard to live up to this ideal, and there’s still quite a bit of spanking going on, but many, many people will find your line of argument offensive rather than obvious.

ragout: yes, the Straits of Malacca are beyond the official, normal reach of the US Navy: that’s not the only reason they’re such a prime target for piracy, however; a high volume of poorly-registered shipping is also a factor. Long-haul transoceanic ships tend to be bigger and better tracked, fewer in number and have a harder time docking in placed where there’s no control. International law and bilateral treaties are a big part of preventing piracy elsewhere: the US Navy’s efforts shouldn’t be exaggerated in keeping the seaways safe.

I’ll grant that there’s little piracy on the US coast. The Caribbean is another story, but with all those islands around, I guess your territorial waters exception excuses that.

We have no obligation to let weak nations get away with things just because they’re weak. If we believed that, then wouldn’t we have an obligation not to spank our children? But what kind of a nation would we have if we didn’t spank children who misbehaved?

But then the situations aren’t directly parallel. If we attack weak nations that aren’t in our sphere of influence, I guess that would be more like spanking other people’s misbehaving children, or misbehaving orphans. That’s only justifiable if nobody else is taking care of the problem.

Anway, it’t no more cowardly to attack a weaker nation with overwhelming force when they do something we don’t want, than it is to spank a child or a woman or some other weak person when they disobey. Cowardice comes only from backing down from strong opponents, not from subduing weak ones.

As to cowardly, yes, it is in fact cowardly for the world’s most powerful military to go to war with a nation like Panama. Whether it’s troops on the ground or bombs from space, bullying nations who have no defense against your might is cowardly.

What’s changed? That’s the only interesting question. It’s the only new one.

The nation-state is the highest order of sovereign body. But many use the phrase “international law” to imply there is some authority higher than the nation-state, or some enforcement body above the nation-state.

Intead, international laws should be better understand as the outcome of the treaties a nation becomes party to. Of course, any nation may unilaterally renounce any treaty at any time. Otherwise, they would not be the absolute sovereigns that they are.

You mention that the worst piracy situation in the world is in Straits of Malacca. Note that this happens to be one place where the US Navy can’t go, since they are Malaysian and Indonesian territorial waters.

By the way, the US Navy’s most recent engagement with pirates occurred a few months ago, off the coast of Somalia when the Navy sank several pirate boats attacking the Danish ship Danica White. Unfortunately, the pirates were still able to capture the Danish ship and escape into Somali territorial waters where the US can’t follow, holding the crew hostage until a ransom was paid today. Thanks international law!

You mention that the worst piracy situation in the world is in Straits of Malacca. Note that this happens to be one place where the US Navy can’t go, since they are Malaysian and Indonesian territorial waters.

By the way, the US Navy’s most recent engagement with pirates occurred a few months ago, off the coast of Somalia when the Navy sank several pirate boats attacking the Danish ship Danica White. Unfortunately, the pirates were still able to capture the Danish ship and escape into Somali territorial waters where the US can’t follow, holding the crew hostage until a ransom was paid today. Thanks international law!

You’ll have to be more specific about these things the rest of the world thinks is wrong before I can answer.

But I laugh at accusations of “cowardly” behavior. I’m guessing that you mean that killing our enemies by bombing them is cowardly. As I see it, US troops don’t deserve to die, and if they can stay 20,000 feet above the enemy, I’m all for it. Do you really think that it’s better to be killed by a brave soldier than a cowardly one? That there’s some noble or glorious way to fight a war?