International humanitarian interventions are a must. People like the Tutsi are not our neighbors in any sense, but the world cannot stand by when hundreds of thousands of non-combatants are massacred. The world, however, never cared about massacres. America entered WWII against Germany for reasons of power politics, and never attempted to solve the humanitarian crisis of the Holocaust. America eagerly launched a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan by financing mojahedeen to embroil the Soviet Army; 1.5 million Afghanis, mostly civilians, subsequently perished. Saddam Hussein’s regime was not particularly murderous in terms of civilians compared to other undeveloped nations, yet was overthrown at great cost to America.
Power politics is necessarily costly because the attacker has to maintain military pressure long enough to force lasting changes in the victim’s attitude and international policy. Humanitarian interventions are inexpensive: puncture the tumor, remove the most malignant parts, help the victim to develop protective immunity with small-scale arms supplies, and withdraw. There is no need or obligation to build states or democracy, but only to stop the most heinous and widespread crimes against humanity. In Iraq, America could kill Saddam with missiles, let the Iraqis try choosing a less murderous leader, and continue killing subsequent leaders until one of them starts respecting human life at least remotely.
Doing good is cheap and relatively easy.
