There is a lot of rhetoric about whether the War on Iran is "justified." Much of that rhetoric came from a small country in the Middle East, but a noticeable portion came from the White House and other US official sources.
In this essay, written by a US Army LTC (Retired), there is an examination of Thomas Aquinas' criteria for just war. Sadly--but not surprisingly--not one of TA's criteria was met in this war.
Excerpts:
[1] ... Our bombing of Iran, which began on Saturday, February 28, was not a last resort. In fact, we were in the middle of a round of negotiations. ...
[2] ...A nation has a right to defend itself from an immediate threat. The leaders who make the call to go to war must be doing so to protect the innocent and vulnerable, and they have the obligation to conduct war with the ultimate aim of ensuring a lasting peace. What was the immediate threat here? If Iran has been chanting “death to America” for the past 40 years, then how can we suddenly claim that the threat is imminent, urgent, and immediate? ...
...there was no nuclear weapons program, so this recent attack against Iran did not save us from one. It is also important to point out that in October 2003, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei issued an oral Fatwa forbidding the production and use of WMD in any form. A Fatwa is somewhat similar in scope and application to what we call an encyclical. [3]
For those who will argue that we cannot trust the Iranians, Fatwa or not, then, by the President’s own words, the facilities were buried under rubble in 2025 and our satellites have been watching it since then. The Director of National Intelligence at the time, Tulsi Gabbard, confirmed this...
(That brings up the question about Gabbard's departure, doesn't it?)
[3] ... The military force that is applied must be proportional to the offence that is being addressed. Our war efforts in Iran fail on this point as well. There was nothing in the situation that existed in Iran prior to February 28 that would justify the assassination of a foreign leader; in fact, doing so was a barbaric act unbecoming of our nation. Within the West, the assassination of foreign leaders has been prohibited since the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648....
[4] ... In order for a war to be a just war, it must be declared by competent authority. The use of military force must fall under the laws governing the nation, which in our case requires that the War Powers Act are invoked. ...
Yes, well, that part is messy due to both the President and to Congress.
[5]... Injury or death of noncombatants must be avoided at all costs if engagement in armed conflict is to be justified, and on this point we failed miserably. ...
The girls' school "accident."
Throwing out #4 due to the legal mess over the War Powers Act, and generously throwing out #5 because errors actually do happen, it is still likely that under Thomas Aquinas' criteria, this is not a "Just War."
So........why was it started???
4 comments:
It’s not about who started the war, it’s about why your boy Trump refuses to stop funding Israel that allows the war to continue. This is decidedly not AmericaFirst.
Israeli Defense Researcher, Ben Sabti threatens USA : Needs Another 9/11 to remember who their freinds and enemies are
https://dailycallernewsfoundation.org/2026/06/22/israeli-defense-researcher-another-911-iran-deal/
……Israeli defense researcher Beni Sabti said the U.S. might need to suffer through an attack to renew U.S. support for Israel and remind Americans who their allies are in an X post on Saturday. While the post was later edited, an X Community Note revealed the content of the original version.
“Maybe USA needs another Pearl Harbor or 9/11 to remember who is the enemy and who is the friend,” Sabti wrote on X…….
Then of course the post was then edited when they realized what assholes they really are.
Trump ought to be held accountable if this happens. Why doesn’t he have the guts to stop the flow of taxpayer money to Israel?
You know what I think about this, which is that Iran is permanently at war with us and thus that jus ad bellum isn't really a consideration with any specific flare-up of a decades-long war they started. However, I do note that the Pope in Magnifica Humanitas said that the whole of Just War Theory is outdated and should be abandoned (because, though, he thinks it's too easily spun to justify wars).
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