Originally posted by: Motteh
masamuneehs - kira fights for what he believes to be right
but don't ZAFT and EAF do exactly the same thing?
war is about clashing ideals of 2 or more parties
ZAFT and EAF in this case
Kira and company are just trying to do the best they can to stop it before everyone forgets what eventually started the war and thus fight a battle that has no end

now i don't agree they choose the best way to do it
especially because they seriously lack intel and there's no way for us to know that this "Terminal" they do get intel from isn't "colouring" the information they pass
like Azreal and Rau in Seed who both followed their own respective agendas and so supporting both their respective sides and the enemy by deliberately leaking intel
I do acknowledge that Kira fights for what he believes is right. Same goes for ZAFT and EAF and anybody else. Destiny, and the original Seed too, focus alot on how the politicians and radicals manipulate the public and the soldiers to fight for their (the politicians') agenda. One of the best parts of this series is that it acknowledges that there is a line where "the cause" becomes forgotten and victory becomes both the ends and the means.

My problem is when people try to "stop it before everyone forgets why it started." Firstly, what started this war (my speculation here) is 2 crazy bastards, Djibril and Dullindal, taking advantage of peoples' insecurities and differences, rigging a colony drop and responding with impossible demands on PLANT. These are manipulations, inflaming the people and leading them to believe that a vast majority of "The Enemy" are out to kill them, and that they need to strike back. Or that they are superior because "the other side is so barbaric"

So the cause of the war can be debated as not a very good reason to fight.

Why then do I think that Kira is wrong for stopping it?

1. Its the way he goes about it. I admire protecting innocent civilians (from the Destroy) or trying to reveal to a misled army what their old ideals and motives are all about (Orb). But simply going around on a battlefield and disarming everybody, leaving them virtually defenseless is not the way to stop the war. Its like saying, "if we took away all the guns there would be no war!" People will still fight, with swords or sticks or fists, if they believe its worth fighting over. Taking away a person's ability to defend themself on the battlefield, when you're just one guy and one ship is wrong because you can't disarm everyone. When someone dies because he couldn't fight back (Heine) and you were the one that disarmed him, but not the other guy (he did hit Stellar, but she still had an offensive capability) how is that any better than if he had died in normal combat? Its worse!

2. It's his self-righteousness. Ignoring, for a moment, the fact that the war was caused by radicals, that the cause is fueled by propaganda, Kira is basically stopping everyone for fighting for what THEY believe in. Someone fighting to kill all Coordinators or Naturals is bad if they just go about killing indiscriminetley, but what about people fighting to protect their land, or to free prisoners, or just defending themselves after being attacked? Kira doesn't even question or think about why everyone else is fighting. He disrespects what they're fighting for, doesn't even let them do what he's doing...

3. He is missing the real problem. Cutting up everyone's weapons may end this battle, but what about all the other ones being waged around the world? A stalemate caused by Archangel and Freedom in one spot will most likely lead to a larger deployment of troops on both ZAFT and EAF sides to capture it later. He is creating confusion on the battlefield. He does nothing about the Blue Cosmos' propaganda nor ZAFT's false Lacus. He doesn't try to convince anyone to see it his way, he just blows up their rifle and flies off, leaving them pissed as hell and probably more determined than ever to fight next time.

4. He is practicing a double standard. He goes around with one of the most powerful MS ever, making every Zaku and Dagger into sitting ducks. "Just having the strength, or just wanting to do something, alone they are not enough" Wasn't that a theme from the original Seed? He is taking away from others the only means of expression that he employs to make his impact on the world, to further his cause, power. And he is actually showing both sides that they require MORE power if they ever want to achieve their goals. If you can't take down one friggin Gundam, even if it is the best, then obviously you're not going to win the war because he'll keep showing up and disarming everyone! Plus, the EAF Naturals must view Coordinators as even bigger monsters, even worse threats, after fighting Kira.

He had to kill dozens if not hundreds of people, fight dozens of pointless battles, damn near kill his best friend and nearly die before he started to realize his errors and start ot think they way he does now. He won't allow anyone else to repeat those errors, even though they may be necessary to learn about the horrible side of war.

Oh, and he's too fucking invincible out there (except Shinn scratched him once, maybe once, I believe. And Neo did too in Ep. 32) It pisses me off seeing the "hero" so immortal and so proud and self-righteous.

There, that's my rant. Suck it, suck it dry. Bitches.