ISIS and Just Warfare: Is Now the Time for Men of Good Will to Intervene?

This month at Patheos we’re discussing Jay Sekulow’s book Rise of ISIS.  For a general review, check out Rebecca Hamilton’s comments here.  She’s been documenting the state of affairs in Iraq all summer, so her perspective is well worth your consideration.

What is this book?

The Rise of ISIS is a call to arms, plain and simple. The authors document the heinous crimes committed by ISIS and Hamas, and make the case that the United States can and should go to war to stop this threat.

What are the limitations of this book?

It’s not fair to complain about what a book isn’t.  Still, it can be helpful to examine the limits of a work.

Because this book has a call-to-arms focus, the delivery is at times more breathless and excited than deliberate and measured.  I don’t think the case is overstated.  But there is room in the literature for a more carefully rendered chronological account of factional warfare in the Middle East, geared towards those who have doubts about the seriousness of the present situation.  Rise of Isis is more like a collage of impressions — grounded in cruel, on-the-spot reality — rather than a detailed, arm’s length analysis.

Because the book is geared towards the widest possible audience, the moral framework cited finds its basis in international law and warfare conventions.  This is not such a bad start.  The authors make the case that American and Isreali involvement in the Middle East has abided by the strictures of international law, and that further intervention is consistent with internationally agreed-upon ethics.

For Catholics, though, which in this context is to say all men of good will, there is a higher authority we need to consider.  How do the facts align with what we know about just warfare and the blessedness of peacemaking?

Hawks vs. Ents

We have to fight two extremes when we consider any question of warfare.  On the one hand, evil is everywhere, and the temptation can be to respond with force any time evil makes its menace.  This fix-it-with-force mentality eventually leads to warfare-fatigue: We try battle, it seemed so easy, it wasn’t so easy, maybe warfare is not the solution after all.  In the face of that fatigue, it can be difficult, when we are surrounded by peace and happiness at home, to believe in the reality of extraordinary evil.  Is this the never again situation that requires ultimate sacrifice, or is it just a bunch of men behaving badly?

Into that mix comes further complications.  Western civilization isn’t operating from a moral high point just now.  There are good reasons we’re hated in certain swathes of the Middle East, and those reasons are us.  Setting aside our special pornified lifestyle, which understandably gives pause and excuse, the United States and her allies don’t have the best history of benevolent respect for foreign governments.  When you can trace back the current violent reactions to situations created by your government’s previous self-interested meddling, it becomes difficult to see the best way forward.  This time we’re doing it for good reasons? This time you can trust us?

Well, sometimes we are trustworthy.  Not perfect, but good enough. Sometimes the evil is so intense, so utterly barbaric, that good men cannot stand by and let the locals hash it out come what may.

The Rise of ISIS argues that we are in such times now.  That the evil is too immense for men of good will not to intervene.  Catholics should give quick and serious consideration to this possibility.