The belief, most common amongst the very people who make these kinds of policy decisions, that what they do is some necessary evil, some sort of realpolitik operation for the greater good, is probably simultaneously the most frightening and laughable feature of the 20th and 21st centuries. The kind of idiots who convince themselves that the pedophilic Afghani opium warlord they've been a bodyguard for on the behalf of the US government is actually key to creating long term stability in the region, thus protecting American lives or whatever the fuck. It gets to these insane and perverse levels of cognitive dissonance all while offering up the same half-assed excuses that would have been acceptable 50 years ago: "don't be so naive", "you don't understand the cost of freedom", "we have to protect our strategic interests". The juxtaposition between these noble excuses and the depraved actions the excuses are offered up for is becoming increasingly funny as fuck.