Civil War

One hundred and fifty years ago Abraham Lincoln ordered his armed forces to fire on American citizens who had declared their right to separate themselves from the United States government in Washington, D.C. These rebellious citizens did not seek to overthrow the government in Washington. They sought to separate themselves from its jurisdiction.

Clearly Abraham Lincoln was an honorable man. Clearly Muammar Qaddafi is a monster.

That aside, what is the difference between what Qaddafi is doing and what Lincoln did?

At the beginning of the Civil War Lincoln did not believe he had the right to free the slaves, and he did not recognize the legitimacy of the Confederate government. So it cannot be said that he was killing foreigners or that he was fighting to free the slaves. He stated repeatedly that he was fighting to hold the nation together, the same goal Qaddafi claims to be fighting for, even though Qaddafi is fighting to keep himself in power and Lincoln had no such agenda, although he did want to be re-elected.

So how today should we look upon Lincoln’s actions?