Iraq’s Christians

are close to extinction. That would be a Church that has been there since the 4th century. Close to extinction. In American-occupied Iraq. Tragically, the attitude of most American Christians is basically indifference. Some in my comboxes have even said, “They had it coming.”

CCC 2309 The strict conditions for legitimate defense by military force require rigorous consideration. The gravity of such a decision makes it subject to rigorous conditions of moral legitimacy. At one and the same time:
– the damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave, and certain;

– all other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective;

– there must be serious prospects of success;

– the use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated. The power of modem means of destruction weighs very heavily in evaluating this condition.

The war did not meet the first two criteria, so there’s no reason to think that last one should matter. As to the third one, the jury’s still out.