War and Law

[Sgt Barker]

The current international rules of war are very Western, based on Western ideas, written in Western terms, couched in Western values. Are they right? Being a Westerner I think they are.

That’s not as important (being a believer in Western values) though as whether or not I’m a Universalist. (What I think youmean by Absolute.) A Universalist doesn’t just believe what they believe, they believe everyone inherently, “naturally” believes the same thing.

For example, the belief that torture is wrong. As a Western value it’s established, if not always honored. A Universalist would say that everyone agrees that torture is wrong, or if they don’t agree then it’s justifiable to forcibly change them, because they should “naturally” agree.

I used to be a universalist (think about it yourself – Democracy, rule of law, freedom of religious practice, raising children, place of women in the world, importance of work versus leisure… how many of those things do you have Universalist beliefs about?), but my wife brought me kicking and screaming to the non-Universalist camp.

It’s interesting to note that Universalism is by definition Imperialist. If the answer for everyone is always ‘A,’ then there’s nothing wrong with going other places and changing it to ‘A’ if it’s not that way now. After all, it’s what everyone REALLY wants.