I doubt anybody missed the news about the United States embassy in Libya being stormed and their ambassador and three other embassy workers. As expected this news has been met with many calling for war against Libya. This brings me to a point that needs to be raised, the actions of a few do not represent the desires of an entire country. War is a horrendous thing. It always ends in death. Combatant and noncombatants alike are killed without mercy in artillery barrages, missile strikes, and firefights.
Is this really what people want? Especially when it wasn’t the actions of every Libyan but a handful of individuals? Can we really justify bombing villages, towns, and cities full of uninvolved people? Before you consider this question I ask you to view these pictures of Libyans apologizing for the actions of those who killed the United States ambassador.
It’s easy to blame an entire country for the doings of a few. I don’t believe it’s an appropriate response to this situation though. Those involved in attacking the embassy and killing the people within should be brought to justice but we should not begin murdering uninvolved individuals. At that point we become no better than those who stormed the embassy.