A chara, – Joe Humphreys writes of "just war theory" in the context of the war in Ukraine ("Unthinkable: 'Just war theory' is not a licence for standing on the sidelines and hoping for peace", March 1st).
“Just war theory” is often treated as if it is an instrument by which we can justify a war.
On the contrary, its purpose is to offer a way to limit as far as possible the damage done by war, in a world where war is a reality. It is similar to the biblical saying, “An eye for an eye”, the purpose of which is not to encourage vengeance, but to limit vengeance from the impulse to inflict damage far in excess, as in the case of Lamech (Genesis 4:22): “I killed a man for wounding me, a boy for striking me. Sevenfold vengeance is taken for Cain, but seventy-sevenfold (ie, unlimited) for Lamech.” The call of Jesus to forgive seventy seven times is the polar opposite.
If the seven criteria listed by Joe Humphreys are observed, it would be very difficult to establish a right to go to war. The presumption is always against war.
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The article quotes James G Murphy SJ: “It’s a caricature to imagine that people or countries want war for its own sake; nobody does.”
This is probably true.
But unfortunately there can be individuals who are so egotistical or megalomaniacal that they will wage war regardless; and war can be started by just one individual, whom others will support although they would not do so themselves. However one might assess Vladimir Putin, if the present war goes his way, he would then have control of a large part of the world’s grain supplies: a dangerous situation.
What about cyberattacks? Joe Humphreys quotes Christopher Finlay: “Because these don’t usually aim at or cause deaths or physical injury and destruction, it seems less likely that they can justify a warlike reply.”
On the contrary, a cyberattack which disrupts health services or water or power or food supplies would cause deaths and injury just as surely as bullets and missiles, albeit more slowly.
Just war theory is one historically important way to try to limit the damage of war.
A more constructive way would be to act at an earlier stage of the process. In 2020, world military spending was nearly $2 trillion.
This planet is in a climate crisis. If political leaders would cooperate to form a global defence force to address that, and divert even just half that sum to the task, as well as to providing food and shelter and education and healthcare to those lacking them, it would lay a foundation for a world where a just war theory would be required far less, and where we do not starve our children in order to feed our attack dogs. – Is mise,
PÁDRAIG McCARTHY,
Sandyford,
Dublin 16.