What is the virtue of a proportional response?

Eu gostava de saber como é que um país dá uma resposta proporcional a um ataque. E para que serve.

Episódio 3 da Primeira Temporada de The West Wing:
escrito pelo Aaron Sorkin

Admiral FITZWALLACE
All three scenarios are comprehensive, meet the obligations of proportional response and pose minimal threat to U.S. personal and assets. To turn our attention to scenario one, or Pericles One, to use its code name...

President BARTLET
What is the virtue of a proportional response?

Admiral FITZWALLACE
I’m sorry.

President BARTLET
What’s the virtue of a proportional response? Why’s it good? ... They hit an airplane, so we hit a transmitter, right? That’s a proportional response.

Admiral FITZWALLACE
Sir, in the case of Pericles...

President BARTLET
They hit a barracks, so we hit two transmitters?

Admiral FITZWALLACE
That’s roughly it, sir.

President BARTLET
It’s what we do. I mean this is what we do.

LEO
Yes sir, it’s what we do, it’s what we’ve always done.

President BARTLET
Well, if it’s what we do, if it’s what we’ve always done, don’t they know we’re going to do it?

LEO
Sir, if you would turn your attention to Pericles One.

President BARTLET
I have turned my attention to Pericles One, it’s two ammo dumps, an abandoned railroad bridge and a Syrian intelligence agency.

Admiral FITZWALLACE
Those are four high rated military targets, sir.

President BARTLET
But they know we’re going to do that, they know we’re going to do that. Those areas have been abandoned for four days. We know that from the satellites. We have the intelligence.

LEO
Sir.

President BARTLET
They did that, so we did this, it’s the cost of doing business, it’s been factored
in, right?

LEO
Mr. President...

President BARTLET
Am I right or am I missing something here?

Admiral FITZWALLACE
No sir, you’re right sir.

President BARTLET
Then I ask again, what is the virtue of a proportional response?

Admiral FITZWALLACE
It isn’t virtuous Mr. President. It’s all there is sir.

President BARTLET
It is not all there is.

LEO
Sir, Admiral Fitzwallace...

Admiral FITZWALLACE
Excuse me Leo, but pardon me Mr. President, just what else is there?

President BARTLET
A disproportional response. Let the word ring forth from this time and this place, you kill an American, any American, we don’t come back with a proportional response, we come back [bangs fist on table] with total disaster!