Well, what if the UN doesn’t come along? And don’t we need to draw up an exit strategy first? And what evil multinational corporation will get the job of bringing the physically decimated country back to life? And who’s going to protect the religious minorities in the absence of a strong central government? And how are we going to keep the peace between the dissidents and the former junta members?  And how long do we stay? And what kind of regime do we leave in place? And why should American soldiers risk their lives and American tax payers spend their money to fight people thousands of miles away who pose no threat to us and our way of life? And won’t this just be perceived as a way of positioning troops in East Asia? And isn’t this a provocation to China?

I raise all these questions somewhat facetiously. They’re deadly serious, of course, and need to be considered. But the point is that even cases for the most transparently humanitarian international military intervention are fraught with deeply complicated and interwoven considerations. Which is absolutely no reason in itself to rule out aggressive action.

It’s easy to find endless reasons to let thousands or even millions die. And you don’t even have to bring up oil, Bush, lies, or WMD.