Going through the motions

Funny how this works out. The President of a (nominal) ally takes offence to an assasination by reference to some concept of "sovereignity".

London: Former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf said Monday he was surprised Osama bin Laden was in Abbottabad, just a short distance from capital Islamabad. He also termed the US strike against the Al Qaeda leader a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty.

"It does surprise me but I don't know the details. I don't know whether he was staying there or was he coming and going from there," Musharraf told a private news channel, after US President Barack Obama announced in Washington that the world's most wanted terrorist had been killed in a US-led operation.

Meanwhile, back in the United States, our own Attorney General asserts that the action was "legitmate" and makes reference to "legality".

WASHINGTON - Attorney General Eric Holder defended as lawful on Tuesday the US operation to go into Pakistan that resulted in the death of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and the taking of his body.

The acts taken were "lawful, legitimate and appropriate in every way. The people who were responsible for that action, both in the decision making and the effecting of that decision, handled themselves I think quite well," Holder told the House of Representatives' Judiciary Committee.

They have to say these things...but its always interesting to note the supposed iron-clad logical reasons supporting or disapproving actions are just tools designed for a purpose. Note how neither of them delves into the issue with specific a priori/posteriori reasons for their thinking...no, its the simple assertion of a principal that conveniently agrees with your conclusion...nothing more. The tool has done the job, solved the problem, and can be placed back in the shed. And make no mistake, both parties here have the same shed, for if the roles were reversed, the same tools would simply switch parties.

Its power, not some adherence to some principal that is at issue. But they go through the motions in the attempt to convince us (and perhaps even themselves) that it is otherwise.