* Recent syndicated columns favoring the Iraq war evoke thoughts of Augustin's Just-War Theory, international conventions and rights of nations -- not to mention pragmatic considerations.
* According to Augustin's centuries-old theory, to be just: 1) War must be the last resort after all non-violent options are exhausted; 2) War must be waged by a legitimate government; 3) War must be defensive, in response to already inflicted injury, not in anticipation of potential harm; 4) War must be to restore peace, a peace that is preferable to that which would occur without the war; 5) War must have a reasonable chance of success, not spill blood for a hopeless cause; 6) Violence inflicted on an enemy must not be excessive relative to injury suffered from that enemy; 7) Effort must be made to minimize harm to non-combatants.
* The Iraq war was unjust according to items 1, 3 and 6; and, knowing the inability of Iraqi factions to share, it violated item 5.
* Modern experience has led to modifications of item 3. It is considered just to defend a friendly nation from assault, to intervene in an ongoing genocide, and to act preemptively in the face of certain, imminent, existential threat. The Iraq war was unjust by these modified criteria also.
Shouldn't a nation have the right not to be attacked in absence of any of these justifications?
* Our violation of Just-War principles invites other nations to do likewise. We have squandered our moral authority in international relations. The generation in power today has left its children with a worse civilization than it inherited. This could have been avoided with a little attention to history and ethics. That's why I espouse an "Office of Intellectual Liaison" in the federal government.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
With the exception of the last sentence, I thought this another fine post.
Post a Comment