This War is Unjust: John Mark Reynolds

I agree with John Mark Reynolds, but I’d go further. No war is just.

Good intentions will not save our nation from bad actions.

No sane person roots for the present tyrant of Libya. Good men long for his removal, but wise men know that wanting a good thing does not justify every means of getting it.

If you don’t know what you want, you are not likely to get anything good unless you are lucky. Nobody should go to war based merely on good intentions, horror at some evil, and hope that things will get better.

War is such a terrible thing in itself that only near certainty that good will come of it can justify battle. Bombs will fall on Libya and innocent people will certainly die. The arcane civil and tribal war breaking out there is confusing and will make moral action difficult.

Without perfect clarity of vision, appropriate means, and a reasonable chance at a good outcome, war is unjust. A necessary evil—and war is sometimes a necessary evil—is never a first choice.

This war is unjust.