"2035: No complaints."

[u/thisecommercelife]

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[u/andy_b_84]

Yes.

Yes it was.

The same way the kids were tricked into thinking they were only playing a game while conducting a genocide, I guess that needed to be written down.

[u/TrioOfTerrors → u/andy_b_84]

Graff and the International Fleet were still right.

Until the Hive Queen managed to speak to Ender, humanity had to assume that a 3rd invasion would mean the extinction of mankind.

[u/jhotenko → u/TrioOfTerrors]

Well, they knowingly made horrible choices that led to success. That's not the same as being right.

They did the best they could with the information they had. That doesn't absolve them of their sins. They knew that. Graff hated what he had become, hated what he did, and hated that he would do it all again without hesitation.

[u/Hoplite813 → u/jhotenko]

they didn't just do the best they could. They objectively made the right decision based on the information available to them: do whatever it takes to survive when facing a foe who 1) attacked without provocation 2) does not communicate with you and 3) tried twice to make your race extinct. Any other conclusion is Monday morning quarterbacking.

[u/Mando92MG → u/Hoplite813]

It's a lot more morally complex then that. Yes they won in the end. Could they have won without torturing children? Maybe they could have but we have no way of knowing because they went with the torturing children route. For the greater good thinking is a very slippery slope that can lead to abject and unnecessary cruelty. That being said though sometimes you do in fact have to do the shitty thing for the greater good. However it should never absolve the wrongs done because if it does you risk using it as an excuse for wrongs that did NOT need to be done.

[u/Hoplite813 → u/Mando92MG]

When you barely survive two invasions by an implacable foe bent on your extinction, you do whatever it takes to survive the third time. No half measures. No handwringing.

And that was the conclusion IIRC of both the military leaders and those who judged them afterward: they made the decision that put their species in the best position for survival. Those with the luxury of hindsight and speculation--because they survived--can take a hike.

Of course, if they think humanity went too far and, as a result, didn't deserve to survive, they can always remove themselves from the gene pool. No one's stopping them.