[Peace-discuss] Obama Invokes "Just War, " But Is the War in Afghanistan "Just"?

[E. Wayne Johnson]

Very good article, Bob.  Thank you very much.

Bob quotes a segment from the Just War Doctrine according to the 
Catholic Church:

    Avoiding war

    2307 The fifth commandment forbids the intentional destruction of
    human life. Because of the evils and injustices that accompany all
    war, the Church insistently urges everyone to prayer and to action
    so that the divine Goodness may free us from the ancient bondage of war.

    2308 All citizens and all governments are obliged to work for the
    avoidance of war.
    However, "as long as the danger of war persists and there is no
    international authority with the necessary competence and power,
    governments cannot be denied the right of lawful self-defense, once
    all peace efforts have failed."

    2309 The strict conditions for legitimate defense by military force
    require rigorous consideration. the gravity of such a decision makes
    it subject to rigorous conditions of moral legitimacy. At one and
    the same time:

    - the damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community
    of nations must be lasting, grave, and certain;
    - all other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be
    impractical or ineffective;
    - there must be serious prospects of success;
    - the use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than
    the evil to be eliminated. the power of modern means of destruction
    weighs very heavily in evaluating this condition.

    These are the traditional elements enumerated in what is called the
    "just war" doctrine.
    The evaluation of these conditions for moral legitimacy belongs to
    the prudential judgment of those who have responsibility for the
    common good.


Where, Indeed, lies the Responsibility for the Common Good.


On 12/10/2009 11:26 AM, Robert Naiman wrote:
> Obama Invokes "Just War," But Is the War in Afghanistan "Just"?
>
> "Accepting Peace Prize, Obama Evokes 'Just War,'" notes the headline
> in the New York Times, referring to President Obama's speech accepting
> the Nobel Peace Prize. President Obama did indeed invoke the concept
> of a "just war." But tellingly, he did not try to argue that the U.S.
> war in Afghanistan meets the criteria to be judged as a "just war."
>
> A plausible explanation for the President's failure to argue that the
> war in Afghanistan is a "just war" is that he recognizes that such an
> argument would not be convincing.
>
> As President Obama noted in his speech, there are criteria involved in
> the "just war" concept. It isn't just a matter of proclaiming that a
> war is justified. There are tests.
>
> This matters, because a substantial part of the U.S. and world
> population subscribes to the theory of "just war." In particular, more
> than a fifth of the U.S. population are estimated to identify as
> Catholics. The concept of "just war" - that wars can be considered
> "just" only if they meet certain criteria - is an official doctrine of
> the Catholic Church.
>
> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/obama-invokes-just-war-bu_b_387231.html
>
> http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/12/10/121056/05
>
> http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/node/426
>
>
> --
> Robert Naiman
> Just Foreign Policy
> www.justforeignpolicy.org
> naiman at justforeignpolicy.org
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