Do you embrace a 'just war' theory?

2015-07-28T22:20:59-04:00

Do you personally embrace the 'just war' theory? Why or why not?

Do our current enemies embrace 'just war?' If so, why? If not, what type of war do they embrace? Why do you think they choose that?

Response by Capt Seid Waddell made Jul 28 at 2015 10:30 PM

2015-07-28T22:30:09-04:00

Yes.

A just war is to defend a civil society from barbarians. WWII was a just war in that Hitler had to be stopped to defend humanity. And the Flying Tigers fought a just war defending the Chinese against Japanese depredations.

The Cold War was a just war, and would have been even if it had become hot in the attempt to stop tyrants like the USSR and China from conquering their neighbors by force.

Some wars are less clear-cut, but the motive behind the war is the thing that makes the war just or unjust. Conquering and plundering peaceful neighbors is never just.

Fighting to defend one's country's freedom or that of others is always just. Defending democracies under the American nuclear umbrella is a good example of a just war that has resulted in the longest period of peace between major nations in modern history.

Now that the U.S. is disarming and withdrawing from our world leadership role we will see the state of violence between nations restored to its historical norm, I am afraid.

Today, the war against ISIS barbarity is as just as any war could ever be, but our leadership has lost its backbone as well as its vision, and the world will once again pay the coward's price as a result.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 28 at 2015 10:40 PM

2015-07-28T22:40:58-04:00

i don't mean to be concise: I think the crusades was intended to be "just war", However today, when we contemplate going to war, i don't think God enters the picture. Shame on us, as a people. Radical Muslims would like to think, they are fighting for Allah but like others that go to war today, they want to line their pockets and satisfy their physical needs, than to offer up for the GRACE of God.
To answer: yes.

Response by PO3 David Fries made Jul 29 at 2015 6:12 AM

2015-07-29T06:12:33-04:00

Anyone that goes to war believes they are justified. Only history will determine which side is correct. Of course, it is easy to judge something once it's done.

Response by LCDR Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 29 at 2015 6:09 PM

2015-07-29T18:09:56-04:00

I do embrace a just war theory. That said, I also think our enemies embrace what they THINK is a just war theory. The problem is perspective.

Most of our enemies (active engagements anyways) feel that we threaten their existence and have provoked them (some true, some not). As a result they are justified in going to war.

Keeping that in mind, though they do not follow just warfare engagement and targeting theories which would make attacks on civilians a non-issue.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Jul 29 at 2015 6:36 PM

2015-07-29T18:36:09-04:00

I don't know. We are trapped by our ideology to promote democracy around the globe.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 29 at 2015 9:08 PM

2015-07-29T21:08:34-04:00

If you mean just war in the sense that Thomas Aquinas meant it, virtually no war meets the criteria, least of all those waged through terrorist groups. Just war means much more than "Everyone feels justified when they go to war." It means there is a rightful sovereign who has declared war with the full authority of the state, that he has done so with a good/just intention, and that he has done so as a last resort. You would be hard-pressed to justify most armed conflict on those lines, which was the point: Thomas Aquinas was a realist, but a very anti-war Christian. He wanted a system where war could be justified, but only rarely. THEN he added a whole separate set of criteria for how wars could be waged if they were to remain just. Add that, and even fewer wars are just.

Do I think we do it? Not really, not most of the time. I'm also not sure that we should. War is, ultimately, a tool of foreign policy, and sometimes the things that are best for our country are not pretty. Or just. And I certainly don't think we should limit ourselves to the extent that we do in the conduct of war. Sherman said it best: war is hell, and the more hell you inflict on the enemy, the less ability he will have to fight.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 29 at 2015 11:24 PM

2015-07-29T23:24:58-04:00

definitely concur