An honest person tends to fight in a fair manner, for he perceives the opponent in his own image.

As noble as this may be, it may also be fatal.

First of all, really, there is no such thing as a "fair fight" -- unless we are talking about a sports event. If there is a fight it is because there is hostility, thus lack of respect for the opponent. This is particularly true in the tobacco wars. The anti-tobacco cartel is not here to win a sports event. IT IS HERE TO WIPE SMOKERS OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH while getting immensely powerful politically and financially.

We are fighting an enemy which has no morality, and no sense of honour and justice. Our enemy does not hesitate to falsify information, circumvent or alter due process, and destroy our livelihoods, families and social lives when it serves its purpose. Our enemy believes that fear, intolerance and intimidation are the only way to go in order to force its opponents into submission.

Unfortunately, it is therefore naive to affirm that "we stand for our values, we take the high road, and we will not lower ourselves to their level". That is a non sequitur. Nazi Germany was not defeated with the "high road" approach: that was the mark of Chamberlain, delivered to history as a fool. The Nazis were defeated with heavy metal. THEN the environment was secure enough to allow the return of "civil culture."

Being disgusted and outraged is not enough. Hoping that "this will pass, eventually" is not enough. This is a dirty fight. If we are afraid to get our hands dirty, then let's not fight at all. But if we chose to fight then anything goes (physical violence excluded except for self-defense), and if we have the possibility to destroy one of our opponents, then moral scruples, hesitation, compassion, and sense of justice have to be temporarily set aside. Hits under the belt are quite alright -- they are unfortunately necessary, given the circumstances. If you don't believe this, refer to the nearest anti-tobacco "education" billboard in your community, or the last episode of the Jerry Springer Show. You'll have trouble telling one from the other.

While you must fight with aggression and ruthlessness, it is imperative that your arguments and evidence are sound: unlike the anti-smokers, we do not have to lie in order to make a case for ourselves, for the overwhelming weight of evidence and the legacy of the western liberal democratic tradition is on our side. And let's not delude ourselves: the tobacco industry will not fight for us -- they really never have. The industry's delusion -- like Chamberlain's pipedream -- is to "appease" the cartel with a settlement that has as its sacrificial lamb the civil rights and the pockets of smokers, due process, and scientific and political integrity.

We have to fight for ourselves by creating as much social tension and economic disruption as possible, while sizing any opportunity to damage and destroy our opponent, not just push it back.

This is war without prisoners. And if you don't believe that, read the rest of this site.

We are fighting a social infection that is only nominally about tobacco. We are fighting an attitude, an approach to the making of public policy that has already been costly for society and individuals, and that must be fundamentally challenged. We are fighting the belief that the ends established by the few justify the means for repressing the many. Having tried -- and failed -- any "fair" way to fight, it follows that we have to accept the moral paradox that our ends also justify our means.