. . . muttered the ogre

quoth Sgt Stryker:

My only question is, Can I drink beer? That is the standard by which all nations are judged. If the answer is yes, then you’re cool with me. If the answer is no, then you’re a barbaric and savage race worthy of destruction. Beer is a civilizing force in the world and should be accorded the proper respect by all peoples.

I never did learn to enjoy beer, but I agree with the sentiment. In this the Sergeant echoes the (fictional) judgment of the Lord Chancellor in denying extradition of a British subject who, while engaged in the honest trade of exporting Scotch whisky, shot and killed a pirate in the pay of the United States:

There are certain rights, customs, liberties, and practices which have been accepted by the enlightened peoples of the world as necessary to the life of civilized men. There is the right to personal freedom – the negation of which is slavery. There is the right to freedom of worship according to the conscience and belief of the individual – the negation of which is religious persecution. There is the right of all men to the peaceful use of the seas – the negation of which is piracy. And there is the right of free choice in such matters of personal behaviour, dress, and diet as do not affect the safety of the realm or the rights of other individuals – the negation of which is Prohibition.

My Lords, those who are guilty of slavery, piracy, or religious persecution are regarded rightly as hostes humanis generis, outlaws of the world, persons who have violated the common laws of mankind. Such persons or peoples forfeit the rights which are commonly attached to nationality or sovereignty and may be apprehended or punished by the first-comer; and in that shameful category I include without hesitation those who are guilty of the policy or practice called Prohibition. . . . It is intolerable that at the present stage of civilization peaceful traders should be assailed with fire-arms on the high seas for no offence other than the conveying from place to place of the wine of their own country. . . . Yet it is a nation confessedly guilty of such conduct which now demands of us a privilege extended, as a rule, ex gratia only, and only to a trusted friend.

(In re John Walker, as reported by A.P.Herbert in Uncommon Law)

Prohibition with a capital P was repealed, but the policy remains. It would be naughty to suggest, at a time when We Must All Stand Together, that killing narcs would not be wicked; so I won’t. Instead, I could be boringly conventional and ask why in hell I’m paying to put American soldierettes in Saudi Arabia.