Christian scholars say no war

[Brad DeLong]

>  > Chronicle of Higher Education - web daily - September 23, 2002
>>
>>  In February, for example, 60 scholars issued a statement arguing that
>>  military action in Afghanistan against Al Qaeda qualified as just war.
>
>Just out of curiousity, have the Walzer 60 piped up with anything specific
>about Iraq?
>
>Also, now that I think about it -- Walzer's overriding criteria for
>distinguishing just from unjust war is that intentionally killing
>civilians is wrong, even for the purpose of deterring aggressors.  He is
>not deterred by unintentional collateral damage because if you rule that
>out, you rule out war, and then you're a pacifist and not a just war
>theorist.  But how, I wonder, does he justify sanctions of mass
>destruction?  Because those are effectively targeted only at civilians,
>and precisely with the aim of harming aggressors through their suffering.
>
>Michael

Walzer has a real problem with nuclear deterrence, but I think the 
problem is inherent in the strategy and the weapons systems--not a 
flaw in his philosophy.

The U.S. nukings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were as much terrorist 
acts as anything else. I think they were justified terrorist 
acts--they succeeded in bringing an end to the Japanese militarist 
government, and did so with a much lower butcher's bill than any 
conceivable invasion of Honshu. But that doesn't change their 
character...

Brad DeLong