THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN A JUST WAR

The War In Afghanistan A Just War

The War In Afghanistan A Just War

Introduction

The concept of a just war may be an oxymoron to a Quaker and irrelevant to a Hobbesian. For the rest of us, some wars are justified while others unforgivable. Religions were the first to delineate the difference between just and unjust wars. Jewish law differentiates between obligatory war in which the enemy attacks; permissible war in which the enemy is preparing to attack; and forbidden aggressive, expansionist wars. Islam permits only holy wars (Jihad) (Harpviken 2007) against infidels or those opposed to true Islam. The medieval Church considered legal only wars properly declared by established authorities with just causes and legitimate objectives. In the past couple of centuries, international relations theorists have further developed and refined the concept in a determined effort to minimize, if not outlaw, war. The "neo-just war doctrine" considers war to be just if it is a war of last resort waged by a legitimate authority for defensive reasons with a reasonable chance of success in restoring peace. Moreover it is argued, war must have a military purpose: " War is permitted to resist aggression but not to change an aggressor's type of government." (Dorronsoro 2009)

History of Just War

The first major attempt to think through this problem came from Clement of Alexandria (AD c.150-c.215), whom Johnson regards as ambiguous at times, but who could also be seen as the first Christian just war thinker introducing two elements of what would later become standard just war theory, arguing for the defence of the Empire (just cause), on the authority of the emperor (right authority).

Ambrose

Considerably later, St Ambrose (c.339-97), like St Augustine after him, repeated Clement's criteria of just cause and right authority, but augmented these with Roman law and the views of the Roman thinker, Cicero: a just war should be one of defence, agreements should be honoured, and with mercy shown the defeated. But drawing from examples of divinely sanctioned war in the Old Testament, Ambrose added that war could be waged to protect religious orthodoxy, beginning what was to be an ominous development. Ambrose was a highly educated man and had been pretorian prefect of northern Italy before being elected bishop of Milan. Writing 50 years after the death of Constantine, Ambrose preserved the Christian presumption against the use of violence, unless it was needed to protect important social values. He explicitly rejected defending one's own person with violence, but argued that charity demanded one protect one's neighbour. He preserved the dual emphasis in Christian thinking, of a presumption against violence by stipulating that the clergy must refrain from violence, but arguing that the lay man may morally be required to defend the innocent though only by the force needed to prevent evil.9 Thus did Ambrose achieve a first synthesis of the Christian suspicion of violence and the classical Roman tradition requiring limited violence for good order and to defend the ...