Quote: So what I am gathering from this latest bout of posting is that if an action is expected out of a person/country/religion/etc. then it is acceptable, or at the very least ignorable? So if someone has been convited or robbery, and released from prison, robs again, it is somehow not as big a deal because it is expected out of them? No, it is even worse.
No, that's not what we said. No one said a damn thing about what Saddam was doing as being "Acceptable" or even "Ignorable". It's just not going to have the same 'outcry' as what the soldiers did.
To somewhat use your analogy...
All of a sudden your neighborhood gets robbed. It makes the news, scares the familes in the neighborhod, etc.
But, after 6 months of constant robberies with no one being able to stop them, the news vans no longer show up, the families are no longer afraid, they do what they can to prevent them from happening, but are no longer surprised. It's just a way of life -- maybe even 'normal'.
If I walk through a bad neighborhood in a big city at night, I expect something to happen. Does that mean it's acceptable when it does? Hell no it doesn't. But it probably won't make the evening news either.
If I walk through a tiny downtown in Small-Town, America I don't expect to be murdered. But, if it does, you can be sure it will make their evening news for days, even weeks.
Expectations. Expectations form the way we feel about something and the way we feel when something happens -- whether it's a 'big deal' or a 'little deal'.
Human Rights violations were a norm under Saddam. "Acceptable"? Of course not. "Ignorable"? Not, not ignorable, but they were ignored. World-wide, but the US was more guilty of ignoring or turning a blind-eye to this than any other nation the first 15 years.
