Questions first, bombs later

摘要

The international rule of law has not been doing well of late. Last month, terrorists bombed American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing hundreds of bystanders. Then the US retaliated by, among other things, bombing a factory in Sudan that the US claimed made VX nerve gas. The American missile strike was not the atrocity the embassy bombings were. But in legal terms, the US behaved little better than the bombers. It might be all right to shoot first and ask questions later if there is no other way to fight terrorists. But there is: a body of international law which requires nations to ask questions before they shoot.