"Just War:" Reformation and Today
+ There must be a reasonable chance of winning.
+ Soldiers must try to distinguish between armies and civilians and never kill civilians on purpose.
+ The means used in fighting the war must be "proportionate" to the end sought.
+ The good to be done by the war must outweigh the evil which the war would do.
+ The winner must never require the utter humiliation of the loser.
As you can see, any war has problems being within these strictures. The American Revolution was a war declared by a non-recognized government (the American Continental Congress). As was the American Civil War. If war is declared by an unlawful government, how do you stop it, short of fighting in the war yourself?
How do you define a "just cause?" In today's conflict, Americans feel their cause is just because we've been attacked. But Osama bin Laden claims his cause is just because of intervention in the Middle East. The US felt justified in fighting Iraq in the Gulf War because a legitimate government asked us to defend it from an aggressor. Who determines justness of a cause?
That civilians should remain untouched is a nice sentiment, but name one war where civilians weren't harmed. The term "rape and pillage" is an old war term and denotes actions against a civilian population rather than the military. Cities for centuries were besieged so that in essence the citizens were starved into surrendering. And trying to aim bombs is an inexact science.
[fortcastle1.jpg]In the eight points, there appears to be two diametrically opposite statements: "There must be a reasonable chance of winning" and "The means used in fighting the war must be "proportionate" to the end sought." If you have the capability to win the war with superior force and end it quickly, but it seems excessive, which route do you go? Practical application: Drop the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and save millions of Americans and Japanese--or carry out the war with conventional weapons at a needless cost of life?
In reading the principles, it is evident that they were developed by Christians for Christians. The fact that Christian kings fought each other is indeed a statement upon us as people. It also illustrates the depth that sin has in our lives.
Nevertheless, Christian nations are attacked by non-Christian foes. And in such instances, the foes usually don't follow the code of the Geneva Convention, much less study
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