Mark Shea on Michael Ledeen

My point--Machiavelli's point, actually--is that real decisions in real life are almost never easy, and those called upon to make those tough decisions have to be willing to "enter into evil." Sometimes by doing that--as briefly as possible, he implores us--means doing things we know to be morally wrong.... [A]s every grownup thoughtful person knows, that it is also possible to do the morally right thing, and by so doing, we unleash great evil. Life is tough. And the abstract moralists are not a very good guide for leaders, at least not all the time. - Michael Ledeen

May God grant eternal rest to the 100 million victims of those who were not afraid to ignore the abstract moralists, be "grown up thoughtful persons", enter into evil and do things they knew to be morally wrong.