The "Just War" Theory
Reader comment on item: Bibliography – My Writings on the Changing Face of Warfare

Submitted by cubed (United States), Aug 15, 2006 at 17:39

Another excellent resource on the current view of how war should be properly conducted - and the reason we haven't won a war (or even had the integrity to formally declare war) since WWII - is the book "Just and Unjust Wars" by Michael Walzer.

This is, unfortunately, the major textbook on the "ethics of warfare" for West Point and other military schools and universities. While many among us have never heard of the book OR of the "Just War" theory, it is, in fact, a formal theory with a long history, and has widely influenced our media, our government institutions (including our politicians and diplomatic corps) and our military policy makers.

What the "Just War" theory advocates isn't anything of the sort; it is a manual on defeatism, a PC handbook on "how not to win - ever." A very clear expose of how the "Just War" sabotages our right to self defense and produces disasters such as the capitulation of Israel to Hezbollah is found in the spring issue of the Objective Standard; the relevant article can be seen at http://www.theobjectivestandard.com/issues/2006-spring/just-war-theory.asp.

The wholesale rejection of the "Just War" theory is crucial to our survival.

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