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It is a common figure of speech. Most native English speakers manage to recognize it. It means abandoning all moral principle in a dubious pursuit of advantage, that more or less always fails in the end. It has passed into a figure of speech because everybody once recognized the entire train of thought.

And what is this "we" bit? Are you assuming I'm on your side? That I still will be, regardless of what you choose as a course of action? "Personally", I can live with us minus those who want to nuke Mecca. And see precious little difference between those who want to nuke Mecca and those who nuked lower Manhattan. So, if you want to go to the head of my "prefer to kill them first" list, run around nuking cities.

Which is simply a single instance of the basic point, which I notice you managed to cut out of your selection from my previous. "But it isn't" - where power is to be found, that is. If you want to live as long as you can, avoid pissing off everyone who thinks as I do - we are a bit more numerous than Bin Laden's camp and decidedly stronger. Moral evil creates new enemies as fast as it dispatches the old ones. It is not a route to power, entirely pragmatically and even cynically, for that reason.

And what is this "we" bit? Are you assuming I'm on your side? That I still will be, regardless of what you choose as a course of action? "

No, dear, I'm saying THEY consider you to be just another Westerner and will slaughter you even as you cringe before them, assuring them that you are one of the "nice" Westerners who isn't like those nasty ones willing to fight for their lives.