freediver wrote on Apr 8
th, 2008 at 6:51pm:
It's called 'reasonably forseeable' deepthought. It is reaonably forseeable to the drunk driver that he might cause a death. Not so for his boss. Likewise it is reasonably forseeable that if you violate UN sanctions designed to stop Saddam funding a war then your payments might contribute to funding a war. It's not about 20/20 forsight. You don't need a crystal ball. Just common sense. Or a spine.
While thousands of businesses were doing business that way
Like I said earlier, this does not in any way justify their actions. There are plenty of businesses that did not violate the sanctions, even it it meant losing business to their less moral competitors like the AWB. This has never been a valid excuse. It is only 'business as usual' to the extent that drug trafficking is business as usual for drug traffickers, and the 1000s of other traffickers they compete with. For law abiding businessmen with a moral compass, violating UN sanctions is not business as usual.
Yes but it is only 'reasonably forseeable' if the AWB are clairvoyants rather than wheat sellers.
The AWB have no way of knowing Saddam is developing any weaponry - in fact the UN who were overseeing the OFF program were satisfied that Saddam was not if I'm not mistaken.
It is only your time shifting which places the AWB in a war.
If the AWB were 'knowingly' paying off Saddam how would they know where it was going? Remember he was building huge palaces and 'Saddamworlds'.
The boss paying the drunk driver is, according to your twisted logic, equally culpable. He should have 'reasonably known' the employee was going to drink and kill someone if you believe the future is 'reasonably forseeable'.