No such thing as a "just war" ... just another war!

Dresden Street Scene -- 1945
Baghdad Street Scene -- 1980

The carnage that is taking place in Iraq and the suddenness with which we find our troops caught between Al-Maliki's Iraq Army and the Al-Sadr Militias takes me back to a very profound article written by Jimmy Carter back in 2003 in which he slammed any notion that our actions in Iraq could ever be regarded as a "just war."

I've heard many Christians, in particular Roman Catholics, argue the three criteria of a "just war." If we want to be accurate, the "Christian" view actually goes back to about 100 years before the birth of Jesus Christ. Cicero was the purported author and his thinking went something along the lines of:

1. There must be a just cause (e.g., to stop an invasion).
2. There must be a formal declaration of war by the king or emperor (to give the other side a chance to put things right).
3. War must be conducted justly (e.g., unarmed civilians should not be attacked).

Early Christians (until about 300 AD) rejected this and were pacifists, much as was Jesus.

But we've come a long way from even Cicero's definition, haven't we, baby!