in International Situations, War 128 Words

The Just War Doctrine

This is an op-ed I wrote for my friends at Ace News Room……hope it is enjoyable and informative……chuq

I am in the process of writing a white paper on terrorism…..it will not be an emotional rambling on the act but rather a study of what it is and how it operates…..with the hope that it …

Source: The Just War Doctrine

And that Irene is what a just war is all about…..enough said.

I have had enough of the silliness today…..I will see you guys on the flip side tomorrow…..

BTW, I do not feel that there is a just war at this time…..but that is me and I am not the best person to ask if there is one or not…..

19 thoughts on “The Just War Doctrine”

  1. I was a research assistant long ago and did substantial research on terror for a prof who then professed to be an expert on terrorism after consuming my research – grin. Best research and thinking I found then and still think stands up now was this: Title: TERROR AND RESISTANCE – A STUDY OF POLITICAL VIOLENCE WITH CASE STUDIES OF SOME PRIMITIVE AFRICAN COMMUNITIES
    Author(s): E V WALTER
    Date Published: 1969
    Page Count: 395
    Annotation: AN EXPOSITION OF THE PROCESS OF TERROR IN SOME SIMPLE SOCIETIES, SHOWING TERROR’S PATTERN IN THE SOCIAL POLITICAL FRAMEWORK, ITS CAUSES, CONDITIONS, AND CONSEQUENCES.
    Abstract: MANY OF THE AUTHOR’S EXAMPLES OF ORGANIZED TERROR, TAKEN FROM SOCIETIES IN WHICH TECHNOLOGY IS RUDIMENTARY, CHALLENGE THE IDEA THAT EXTENSIVE SYSTEMS OF TERROR ARE PRODUCED ONLY BY ADVANCED SOCIETIES. HE DESCRIBES THE INVISIBLE GOVERNMENT OF SECRET SOCIETIES IN WEST AFRICA, AND THE HISTORY OF THE ZULU STATE IN SOUTH AFRICA, INCLUDING THE DRAMATIC CAREERS OF SHAKA AND HIS SUCCESSORS. THESE TERRORISTIC SYSTEMS – CONTRARY TO PREVAILING NOTIONS ABOUT THE RELATION BETWEEN VIOLENCE AND AUTHORITY – WERE SUPPORTED BY AUTHORITY, CONSENT, AND TRADITION. THE AUTHOR ALSO CONSIDERS THE NATURE OF DESPOTISM AND THE CHARACTERISTICS OF LIMITED MONARCHIES. HE HOLDS THAT ORGANIZED TERROR IS NOT TO BE IDENTIFIED WITH TOTALITARIANISM, BUT THAT IT EMERGES IN OTHER SYSTEMS OF POWER AS WELL. THE TYPICAL REGIME OF TERROR, HE EXPLAINS, IS ONE MODE OF DEALING WITH POLITICAL RESISTANCE, AND OF REACTING TO CRISES OF SOCIAL INTEGRATION. HE DISTINGUISHES THE ‘PROCESS OF TERROR’ AND ITS ARTICULATION IN SYSTEMS, FROM OTHER FORMS OF VIOLENCE, AND HE CLARIFIES RELATIONS BETWEEN VIOLENCE AND POWER, AUTHORITY, FORCE, AND RESISTANCE. HIS ANALYSIS SHOWS THAT RULE BY FEAR AND VIOLENCE IS BY NO MEANS ALIEN TO THE WESTERN POLITICAL TRADITION. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)
    Index Term(s): Violence ; Revolutionary or terrorist groups ; Social conditions ; Terrorism/Mass Violence ; Political impact of terrorism ; Terrorism causes ; Africa
    Sale Source: Oxford University Press, Inc
    198 Madison Avenue
    New York, NY 10016
    United States of America
    Country: United States of America
    Language: English

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  2. I will let these two quotes speak for me:
    “Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding.” – Albert Einstein
    “The pioneers of a warless world are the youth who refuse military service.” – Albert Einstein

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    1. “The pioneers of a warless world are the youth who refuse military service.” – Albert Einstein

      Tolstoy said that as well…
      ‘spoils’ are the reward… it is not until men are sickened by war that they stop….they still have not stopped…not replete I guess….there is a special sort of camaraderie in war…..funny that.

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      1. On 23 March 2013, Breivik’s mother died from complications from cancer.[ On the same day media said that mother and son “took farewell during a meeting at Ila last week. Breivik was permitted to move himself out from behind the glass wall of the visit room—to give his mother a farewell hug”. Breivik had asked for permission by the prison officials to attend his mother’s funeral service; the request was rejected.

  4. I’m afraid I must agree with the final study group’s conclusion, which parallel’s my own belief, which is, the term, “just war” is an oxymoron. Every article of what I read as the statement of what makes war ‘just’ is a flat out WRONG assumption. The end does not ever justify those means; no end ever does. Plus, there is no “legitimate authority” I acknowledge, other than my own responsibility for my own actions. Nobody else has, or will ever be given, that right to decide for me what is moral, or ethical.

    A “Just War” is an oxymoron; it has no meaning in reality.

    gigoid, the dubious

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  5. Chuq that was an interesting article, THANX. However I agree with dubi, even with the definitions cited; to me no war is really just…too much sacrifice, too much confusion, too much money diverted to unjust causes. I know occasionally war might be a necessity but it is still unjust by the definition of unjust although not by the definition of a “Just War”. However war can be legal and we’ve not had a legal war in the US for decades. ~~dru~~

    Reply

      1. Ooooo chuq;

        That is a legal term that applies to homicide which can be excused, as in self defense. Wars can be justifiable without being legal or legal but not justifiable or both. Wars are committed by governments or states against other governments or states; not one or two individuals against one or two individuals. A homicide can not be justifiably if innocents are killed too.

        Wars cannot be conducted without innocent civilian lives being loss. You have “Friendly Fire” or “Collateral Damage” in wars. Yet these wars can be justifiable however the killing of innocents is not just.

        There is no such defense in a homicide conducted by an individual against an individual. You might be considered “justified” if you kill the attacker but certainly not if you cause collateral damage as in the death of innocents. For that you will get at least manslaughter and probably much more. There is no legal justification for an individual killing innocents, only attackers.

        So if your reply is implying that a war can be defensible, I agree. If you are implying a war can ever be Just, I disagree. Legal and/or necessary but never JUST. ~~dru~~

      3. Morn’n chuq,

        I know your stance by now, this was just an excuse for a lecture to all…not that most people that follow this site need it but who knows who will read it. Happy Day…~~dru~~

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