Not that “proportinality” is even a Christian consideration, (since it is not a matter of ‘an eye for an eye’ for the Christian, but rather a putting to an end the cycle of violence by refusing to respond in kind; by refusing to buy into the sickeness of the world. Somehow, the ones who insist on the “literal obedience” to the “literal words” can easily set aside Jesus’ most direct words on “love your enemies” and “do not return evil for evil”.)

But even on the terms of normal “international standards of ethics”, Western antional powers, and the US in particular, seem to be able to throw off this “burden of proof” and “standard of the worldwide community” with amazing ease of justification and rationalization.

Howard Zinn | The Scourge of Nationalism | June 2005 issue

One of the effects of nationalist thinking is a loss of a sense of proportion. The killing of 2,300 people at Pearl Harbor becomes the justification for killing 240,000 in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The killing of 3,000 people on September 11 becomes the justification for killing tens of thousands of people in Afghanistan and Iraq.