Faulty Utilitarian Ideation Concerning North Korea

It is amusing when people assert that events like Kim Jong-Il’s violating international sovereignty play any role in improving life. It is true that the United States must draw down conventional forces in Iraq so that such forces can be prepared to handle threats like North Korea, but it is utilitarian to believe that conventional forces would remain in Iraq if it were not for Kim Jong-Il’s antics. Such an assertion is similar to saying that if Al-Qaeda’s committing terrorist acts were to stop the ceaseless Arab-Israeli conflict in Israel and Gaza, then such terrorist acts would be worth committing. No terrorist act is worth committing for any reason, though. Consequently, terrorist acts would still be worthless even if the Arab-Israeli conflict stopped when Al-Qaeda committed them. The reason is clear: if evil is acceptable to justify the result of some good, then evil is good. However, evil is not good, therefore, evil is not acceptable to justify the result of some good. Whatever good comes from the situation concerning Kim Jong-Il, then, does not and cannot justify his lawlessness.