Past support for a tyrant undermines later moral authority to oppose him
Evidence
The United States was in a weak position to assert moral authority because it had been a strong supporter of Saddam during the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s, providing him military intelligence and arms even though he was abusing his own people. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2352
Categorization
Category: Causal Relationships
- XREF: Relates to moral disengagement themes elsewhere in the book — us vs them framing that treats allies’ atrocities as irrelevant until they become enemies.
Related
- Past support for a despot undermines a nation’s later moral condemnation of him (similarity 0.94)
- US actions in Iraq helped create the very adversary ISIS later became. (similarity 0.81)
- Leaders frame wars as moral causes to legitimate material self-interest (similarity 0.81)
- Moral justifications can substitute for discredited rationales to sustain support for war (similarity 0.79)