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In reply to the discussion: Wikileaks Ukraine cable proves US government knew of fascist threat [View all]The Magistrate
(95,244 posts)It selected a person to act as head of state until elections could be held after the previous head of state absconded.
The previous head of state sent out police to kill his own people, even though he had won an election, so you are on the usual shaky ground there --- if use of lethal force de-legitimizes one, it de-legitimizes both, and you have no ground from which to proclaim the legitimacy of the previous regime.
The idea that a government in place cannot avail itself of force against secession and rebellion is, of course, nonesense. Any government in place has a perfect right to use force in defense of the integrity of its territory and the execution of its laws and the upholding of its peace. One may, on various grounds, wish for some particular government to fail or to succeed in such efforts, but that is a different question. Nor does a government, any more than do secessionists or rebels, have a right to succeed in such an effort. But all have the right to try....