I doubt that even if this evidence could be upgraded to 100 per cent it would persuade the sort of people who go on self-appointed missions of mediation to Baghdad. These people further fail to see that governments now have a further responsibility to their citizens - namely to see that something is done to prevent future assaults on civilisation.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Hitchens doubts mediators will change their minds and insists governments must protect citizens.
- In plain terms
- Mediators won't listen, and governments must prevent future attacks.
- What can you take from it?
- Governments have a duty to protect citizens from attacks.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What is the primary duty of a government?
Another view
Mediation can still play a role in conflict resolution.
More from Christopher Hitchens
It must be obvious to anyone who can think at all that the charges against the Hussein regime are, as concerns arsenals of genocidal weaponry, true.
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