Explaining Just-War

Today during an Air Command and Staff College Seminar I was surprised to learn that the vocal members of our group deny the possibility of a just war. We weren't talking about our current endeavor in Iraq, but just the possibility of a war ever being just.

Here's how I explained that possibility. A war is just if it is fought as a act of love for an oppressed neighbor. Christ commanded us to love our neighbor, and when asked to define neighbor, He gave us the Good Samaritan. This parable tells us a neighbor isn't limited to just friends, allies, or those that you can benefit from.

So it's not immoral for a nation to protect an oppressed people through sanctions, international pressure or even armed conflict. Coming to the aid of others when your nation has nothing to gain by the intervention is not being the world's "police-force", it's being a good neighbor.

It would actually be immoral (by the good Samaritan ethic) for a nation that has the means to relieve a suffering neighbor to instead stand idly by and do nothing.