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SUNDAY SPECTATOR
July 16, 2006
Rules of war
">here will be wars and rumours of wars.” As we watch the Middle East explode yet again, this phrase comes readily to mind. At the moment I write, Israel is taking the battle aggressively to Iran’s proxies, Hamas and Hezbollah, across international frontiers. But by the time this appears, other parties may have joined, or been joined, to the fray; and the “rumours of wars” could be extended around the world, for at some point the heat in one location ignites a fire in the next.“Yet be not troubled,” Christ added. For -- see New Testament -- worse things will come. Christ had, conspicuously, nothing to say about war, or the conduct of war, in any of his recorded teachings. He never told a soldier to disobey orders, or throw down his arms. He explicitly granted the legitimacy, in their context, of Caesar’s worldly claims. And although he uttered such figurative expressions as, “I did not come to bring peace, but a sword,” it would be impossible to classify him as either pacifist or warmonger. The Christian view of war has been, that for our sins, war is something that happens. The idea of banning it is nearly as absurd as the idea of banning agriculture. Who would enforce this ban? Mohammad, on the other hand, had much to say on war, and was himself, by all accounts, a very successful general. He did not, however, present himself as incarnate God, only as the final Prophet. Our Western notions of the “just war” grew within an explicitly Christian tradition, that used reason to expound both nature and revelation, in harmony with each other. The specific just war doctrines were inculcated by Augustine, developed chiefly by Thomas Aquinas, and adapted and codified for the modern age by such as Grotius and Puffendorf. There are several key points. The war must be waged as a last resort -- and not until every non-violent alternative has been exhausted. It must be waged under the command of a legitimate authority -- as opposed to a self-appointed individual or group. It must be waged to redress a tangible wrong -- and not to advance some abstract positive ideal. It must be waged with some real prospect of victory -- and not if the cause is hopeless. It must be waged towards the goal of restoring peace and order -- under conditions better than would have pertained had the war not been fought. In short, the purpose of war must be, ultimately, defensive. There is just war, but also justice in war. The means used must be proportional to the injury that was suffered, with no greater destruction than is necessary to achieve each military objective in view. Every effort must be made to discriminate between combatants and non-combatants, and to avoid harm to the latter. Civilians may be lawfully killed only as the unavoidable consequence of striking a legitimate military target. Even that is a judgement call, between the likely extent of “collateral damage” and the importance of the target. Prisoners of war must be treated with respect and consideration, and all wounded and suffering aided. Surrenders must be given and taken in good faith. In short, gratuitous violence can never be justified. The Geneva Conventions -- which the Bush administration in effect flouted this week by granting terrorists in its custody the status accorded to the uniformed soldiers of legitimate armies -- spell these principles out in fine legal strokes that are unambiguously Western. The soldiers of Israel, as those of all Western armies, have the Geneva Conventions drilled into them from boot camp. We are up against an enemy that denies every constituent part of our “Just War Theory”, and every restraint in battle (as the reader will quickly see by reviewing the above, in light of recent events). The revolutionary government of Iran, no less than Al Qaeda, rejects our Western heritage tout court. They have their own rules, founded in the Koran and interpreted through various schools of Shariah. But they do not even seem to be following those. To our old way of thinking, this made them barbarians, and we did whatever was necessary to bring them into line. To our new way of thinking, we apply the rules of war strictly, but exclusively to ourselves, and take our lumps. Even Israel is still doing this, in the fix she is in. But I expect she, and we, will become more pragmatic, as the wars and rumours of wars persist. David Warren
© Ottawa Citizen
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