Did We Save Lives After All?, Ctd.

A reader writes:

This a false dilemma. We could have restructured the sanctions regime, and Colin Powell signaled that the State Department was interested in doing so prior to 9/11. One bad policy does justify another bad policy. Universe x being better situated than universe y does not necessarily justify the choices that created universe x.

Even if a net amount of lives were saved, that doesn't necessarily make it worth it, given the huge costs to the U.S. in terms of global strategic positioning and international credibility.

The case for the Iraq War, in short, cannot be assessed in terms of whether one universe is more desirable than another. It has to be assessed with all possible universes in mind, including one in which an administration more responsible than Bush's or Clinton's restructures the sanctions regime to make it more humane.