Is war ever justified?

Yeah. I would like your opinions about this.

Well, you really opened yourself up for this one didn't you? Asking for opinions and all, we all know what opinions are like........


I want to start by saying as societies we are forced, duped and misled into war via greed and or fear and it will always be needlessly so.


My great granpa and great great granpa fought in the civil war one of them was a full blooded Mohawk and he did it for full citizenship rights.

We have many like that today from Guam, prison other Island countries etc.,

My Grandpa and my Wifes' Grandpa both fought in WWII against the Japanese in the South Pacific (our beloved friends today -do ya really think so?)

Hey you know in the words of my Chinese world history professor, \"The first bomb was enough.\"

The fact that we dropped the second bomb still rings hard on the worlds ears today.

My dad was drafted into the Vietnam War while I was a baby but, I remember Nixon and the tail end of the Vietnam war as some of my very first memories being about four when it ended. My Uncle was a volunteer for the Korean war, he hated MASH and not because it reminded him of it in the least in fact the opposite... it was much worse. I say wars 'cause I don't believe in what they call a police action.

I personally volunteered for the Army and served Oct '89 -Oct'93 during which we ousted Noriega, I watched the Berlin wall fall while in Darmstadt Germany, serving in the 440th Signal Battalion. Then there was Somalia and Mogadishu which I acted as a MARS traffic operator which allowed them to pass mail to their loved ones back home as their was no internet as such yet and they had no postal service there, then of course there was \"Desert Shield followed by Desert Storm\" in which my unit served.

I am proud of my warrior family heritage but, I am saddened because I know we as a world of people we have been tricked by leaders with their own agendas at heart.

Every society on this planet wants only the same things generally speaking.... a way of life that is not too harsh, a family and friends kept safe and secure. And to pursue that which makes them happy without having harm done to others.

So, now I feel that I have explained why I believe I can say NO, war is never justified!

I said it before (like way back when Bush was saying Weapons of Mass Destruction) and I'll say it again--- if you got a beef with a group of bad MOFO's go and kill them. Example; Send in assassins and elite strike forces to kill rogue governing bodies and officials that enforce inhumane doctrines of rulership over their peoples and threaten others then, let the people sort it out. If they screw up again go back to step one and repeat until it is fixed. Their is absolutely no excuse to bomb innocent families when you are fighting a rogue regime.

Well in an effort to start things of for you, Let us look at three major Ethical camps on war.

The first are Realists, who will typically hold that systems of morals and ethics which guide individuals within societies cannot realistically be applied to societies as a whole to govern the way they interact with other societies. Hence, a state's purposes in war is simply to preserve its national interest.

The second are the Pacifists, who maintain that a moral evaluation of war is possible in all cases, and that war is always found to be immoral based on that evaluation.

The third are the Just War Theorists,who, along with pacifists, hold that morals do apply to war. However, unlike pacifists, Just War Theorists believe it is possible for a war to be morally justified. The concept of a morally justified war underlies much of the concept International Law, such as the Geneva Conventions. One common Just War Theory evaluation of war is that war is only justified if 1.) waged in a state or nation's self-defense, or 2.) waged in order to end gross violations of human rights.

Portions of this I copied from wikipedia to save time, otherwise i would be quoting from books that I have for some time. But this gives you a point at which you can begin to discuss the possibilities of whether or not war may or may not ever be justified.

Well, I was a bit hasty I kinda have to take that no back. What if we were being attacked by space aliens? That wouldn't communicate with us?

And anytime you are only handed the defend card. You have no choice it's just part of the life you have been dealt.

You would be justified.


We are all in it together. No-one on this planet that is just standing looking and doing nothing is justified either. They are just as guilty by association.

War, should be a planetary concern and eradicated as soon as possible, no-one should be involved or, all should be involved if there is a war and it should be World War right then, let's just get it over with.

I would think that yes it can be justified. Now being a warrior (Marine) I may be partial, but sometimes I believe it to be necessary. I guess yah, necessary would be the word I would use instead of justified. I believe the the BOMB was justified due to what happened at Pearl Harbor. NO I do not condone revenge necessarily, but if we hadn't dropped the bomb, how many more people would have died fighting that war? The US tried to stay out of it, but was drug into it by the Japanese. Our intentions were good, yet ultimately worthless. I do not believe however that all wars are justified. I also cannot however comment on the current war due to the fact I am a member of the armed forces, and I am sure they are monitoring everything I say from this computer. I will say there are things I would have done differently had I been in charge, but the final outcome may have been the same. Throughout history many wars were justified, and many were not, atleast in my opinion. For example the Civil War, as much as it pains me to know the atrocities of brother killing brother, it was necessary for the good of society as a whole. The Revolutionary War, same thing. I'm sure there are some that would disagree with my opinions, feel free, I look forward to this thread opening up more. This is a great topic.

Dhagon Krayt

Dhagon Krayt wrote:

I would think that yes it can be justified. Now being a warrior (Marine) I may be partial, but sometimes I believe it to be necessary. I guess yah, necessary would be the word I would use instead of justified. I believe the the BOMB was justified due to what happened at Pearl Harbor. NO I do not condone revenge necessarily, but if we hadn't dropped the bomb, how many more people would have died fighting that war? The US tried to stay out of it, but was drug into it by the Japanese. Our intentions were good, yet ultimately worthless. I do not believe however that all wars are justified. I also cannot however comment on the current war due to the fact I am a member of the armed forces, and I am sure they are monitoring everything I say from this computer. I will say there are things I would have done differently had I been in charge, but the final outcome may have been the same. Throughout history many wars were justified, and many were not, atleast in my opinion. For example the Civil War, as much as it pains me to know the atrocities of brother killing brother, it was necessary for the good of society as a whole. The Revolutionary War, same thing. I'm sure there are some that would disagree with my opinions, feel free, I look forward to this thread opening up more. This is a great topic.

Dhagon Krayt

I agree the world was in desperation WWII was horrid and yes, dropping the bomb was necessary to end it, the point I made which was brought to my attention was; Did we really NEED to drop the second bomb?

I don't think so.

The only reason I can think of was possible to prove we could reproduce them, aside from proving that point which probably wouldn't have been necessary, I don't think it was needed.

Dhagon Krayt

And so which of the philosophies would that fall under?

The first bomb would have been justified, the second possible not. There is really no telling though if it was the first or second bomb, that finally made them surrender.

Dhagon Krayt

And is that a Realist View or a Just War Theory View?