(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .



Just and Unjust War [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2025-06-22

First, let the record show that I am basing this on a book by Michael Walzer called Just and Unjust Wars. I lent my copy to a friend, and have not seen it since. Therefore, this is based on my memory and understanding of the basic concepts.

There is a saying, “All’s fair in love and war.” This is most emphatically not true. The theory of Just War goes back to the Roman emperor Constantine and has been updated as history has unfolded. Recently, the Geneva accords have added a lot to the body of work.

The reason I am writing this is because trump used it to justify his attack on Iran. I’ll discuss that in a bit.

Justice in war has three principal areas; in the initiation, in the conduct, and in the conclusion. Oddly enough, a lot of the framework can easily be looked at as relating to you and your neighbors. What is permissible or not in the neighborhood is much the same as it it between nations. If someone invades my house, I can use force against him. Also, if someone invades my neighbor’s house, I can come to his defense. My actions and my neighbor’s can be considered just, and the invader’s actions are unjust. That is very often the case, that one side wages war for a just reason and the other side is acting unjustly.

One of the common claimed justifications for an invasion is labeling it as a pre-emptive strike. This is different from a preventative strike. Pre-emption is justified, the other is not.

Think about this hypothetical example, A van pulls up in front of my house. A bunch of guys climb out, checking that their weapons are ready, locked and loaded. The driver steps out, consults a piece of paper and points at my house. The men spread out and start walking towards the curb. Now, I am justified in engaging in a pre-emptive attack.

What makes this a just war on my part is two things. First, the certainty. The driver pointing at my house gives me that. Second, the immanence of the attack on me. It only takes a few seconds for them to cross the sidewalk and then the invasion has commenced. A van of guys driving down the street is not a fair target, lacking both the factors.

This is roughly what trump used to justify the bombing of Iran. He tried to claim that a preventative attack was a preemptive strike. There is not an current ability on Iran’s part to engage in nuclear war, nor a certainty, nor is it imminent. This may seem familiar to those who remember the runup to Bush’s invasions. Setting aside questions about adhering to our own Constitution (outside the scope of this story), this cannot be considered a Just war on our part.

The following is a very brief recap of the second and third dimensions of Just War theory. In the spirit of completeness.

Most of the thoughts about justice in the conduct of war relate to the idea of non-combatant immunity. Soldiers are required to accept greater risk to themselves in order to prevent civilian deaths. The idea of “Kill them all and let God sort it out.” has no validity in Just War theory. (I edited out a mini-rant about Israel and Gaza)

The last section, about justice in the termination of war, was added after World War II. The leaders at the time recognized that the term of the peace treaty imposed on Germany after World War I were so onerous that they created the very conditions that led to the second war. This is not to excuse the actions of the Nazis, only to understand them. This was part of the reasoning behind the Marshall Plan, that we learn from our mistakes

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/6/22/2329545/-Just-and-Unjust-War?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web

Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/