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Gothmog

(182,155 posts)

20. To use a legal term, what President Obama did was to distinguish the Iraq war from Crimea

Reply to Douglas Carpenter (Original post)

Thu Mar 27, 2014, 08:15 PM

Mar 2014

Remember that President Obama is a lawyer and a law professor. What President Obama did in his speech was to distinguish the Iraq war from the situation in Crimea. Here is a simplified explanation of this concept. http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/distinguish

Distinguish
To set apart as being separate or different; to point out an essential disparity.

To distinguish one case from another case means to show the dissimilarities between the two. It means to prove a case that is cited as applicable to the case currently in dispute is really inapplicable because the two cases are different.

The Iraq war is a very different situation compared to the conduct of Russia in annexing Crimea. In his speech, President Obama did not defend the Iraq war but merely explained why the Iraq war was not relevant to the conduct of Russia in annexing Crimea.

As a lawyer, there is a huge difference here.

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Was the U.S. Invading Iraq and Russia invading Crimea morally equivalent? [View all] Douglas Carpenter Mar 2014 OP

I suppose it depends on the criteria one uses to arrive at a judgment cali Mar 2014 #1

Of course one statred ~10 years ago, the other ... about a month ago. JoePhilly Mar 2014 #5

Did it start a month ago? I bet the Tartars would say the Russian expansion into Crimea Bluenorthwest Mar 2014 #12

This particular episode. JoePhilly Mar 2014 #17

true enough, but I do think the comparison is not only fair- but inevitable. cali Mar 2014 #15

Difficult. Both were clearly acts by corrupt regimes. But as Cali said, Iraq was far, far worse. nt onehandle Mar 2014 #2

The invasion of Iraq was worse. But thats not what the President was saying yesterday. phleshdef Mar 2014 #3

Yea but ... JoePhilly Mar 2014 #7

Both were in violation of international law, but one of them led to a Hell of a lot more ... 11 Bravo Mar 2014 #4

So far. JoePhilly Mar 2014 #6

Aren't you using your DU Crystal Ball, distributed to all good members of DU? el_bryanto Mar 2014 #34

collateral damage Supersedeas Mar 2014 #8

The hundreds of thousands dead make the Iraq invastion much worse LittleBlue Mar 2014 #9

I think Iraq was not only worse but much, much worse. PeteSelman Mar 2014 #10

They already did that in 1944, removed a couple of hundred thousand Tatars by force Bluenorthwest Mar 2014 #13

That was 70 years ago. PeteSelman Mar 2014 #16

That transhistorical Russia, damn the bear! JackRiddler Mar 2014 #21

Both were morally wrong. The only noticeable difference: Tommy_Carcetti Mar 2014 #11

the right to speak out is important--how you speak out counts as well Supersedeas Mar 2014 #14

Depends what one assumes the US knew One_Life_To_Give Mar 2014 #18

Even if they did sincerely think Iraq had some WMD's, did they seriously think Iraq was a threat to Douglas Carpenter Mar 2014 #19

Eventually not enforcing rules has their own consequences One_Life_To_Give Mar 2014 #31

The US bloody well knew... JackRiddler Mar 2014 #22

I remember the run up to the Iraq invasion very clearly Crunchy Frog Mar 2014 #24

To use a legal term, what President Obama did was to distinguish the Iraq war from Crimea Gothmog Mar 2014 #20

Unless I missed Russia's "shock and awe" offensive, the answer is pretty clear. n/t Skip Intro Mar 2014 #23

Is blaming Obama for the Iraq invation morally equivalent to blaming Obama for the Crimea invation? baldguy Mar 2014 #25

No, blaming Obama for Iraq would be worse cthulu2016 Mar 2014 #26

If it rains a bit, Obama gets blamed for a flood. baldguy Mar 2014 #27

I see the objective as pointing out Obama said something morningfog Mar 2014 #33

I'm sorry-- the invasion of Iraq was an international crime against humanity.... mike_c Mar 2014 #28

I would have to say Panama Separation Mar 2014 #29

Agreed OmahaBlueDog Mar 2014 #30

The Suez Crisis also comes to mind. JVS Mar 2014 #32