Professor Bainbridge's post on the Death Star's destruction of Alderaan had me rethinking my position on the incident. (He refers to Robert Hayes' post on the not so "Evil" Empire.) But only in one regard.
There is a strong argument that Leia was lying to Grand Moff Tarkin. If so, the destruction of Alderaan is a perfectly justifiable thing to do. Now, I happen to believe that Leia was obviously lying, but Grand Moff Tarkin had every reason to suspect so. The distinction is huge. If Alderaan is a rebel staging ground, destroying it is the smart thing to do. If not, well, it sucks to be Alderaanian. (BTW, the evidence for her lying is the fact that her foster father, Bail Organa, Alderaanian royalty and Senator, was one of the Founding Fathers of the Rebellion. There might not have been rebels, per se, on the planet, but it was the Rebellions' heart and soul.)
I think Robert's argument is tongue-in-cheek. (But Perry Eidelbus certainly does not think so.) The evidence for the "evil" is too overwhelming. (Wander through Perry's posts and you'll get the gist.) I guess I feel that it is such a non sequitur that I cannot take Robert's stance seriously. Evil or not, blowing up Alderaan was sensible: it just the universe to so darn big, and you can't be wasting time with precision weapons or minor life forms (e.g., Ewoks).
From a certain point of view.
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