Yep. Like I said, reality will generally provide various exceptions to any verbal or written rule of rightful conduct. That's why we need wise and compassionate people to come up with original solutions to unique situations more than we need another set of rules.
My father is Czech too, devilsadvocate, interestingly enough. He would agree with you that the British and French failed Czechoslovakia, but he also feels that the Czech leader (Benes?) did indeed lose his nerve at the critical moment.
My point was that the German attack would never have occurred at all, had the Czechs been resolved to fight, because the Wehrmacht was not well enough equipped yet in '38, and the German generals knew it, and they were prepared to arrest Hitler, Goering, Goebbels, and the whole nasty lot and declare martial law in Germany if the order to attack was given. In the event, the order didn't have to be given, because Benes knuckled under. It was actually the last real chance for peace. By '39 the Wehrmacht WAS strong enough to wage real war. They had also acquired several hundred excellent tanks and the matchless 88 mm Flak guns from Czechoslovakia, and went on to win big in '39 and '40 and '41 using those very weapons along with their own excellent Panzer III and Panzer IV tanks...and the Luftwaffe, the World's foremost airforce at that time.
I think you're probably quite right about Idi Amin and Mr Bokassa, but I'm not well enough informed on those wars to really have a solid opinion.
McGrath - Okay, let me rephrase it: Smashing up property that is valuable and useful to its rightful owners and harmless to everyone and everything else is a destructive act. Building such property is constructive.
See how tricky and limited words are? I'm sure someone can come up with an exception even to that, but they can hardly pretend they don't know what I mean by the statement.
I am reminded of those old puzzles, like: You're driving down a narrow mountain road. You come around a hairpin turn. There's a child on the road. There's a truck out of control coming right at you the other way. There's a cliff. Do you - turn right and go off the cliff to save the child? Do you - go left and pile headon into the truck or the rock wall? Do you hit the brakes, slide into the child and probably the truck too and kill everybody? Etc..etc...etc...
The only useful way to respond to that sort of manipulative crap is say to the questioner, "Do you really enjoy dreaming up imaginary BS like this to cause other people mental distress? If so, maybe you should seek counseling..."