Thursday, April 2, 2026

Contra White and Graham

From Twitter/X, on the comments made at the White House yesterday by Paula White and Franklin Graham:

Posted by at

3 comments:

  1. bmillerApril 2, 2026 at 1:38 PM

    I don't mean this as an attempt to justify US or Israeli action but I have a Just War question as it applies to Iran.

    It appears that Iran has no hope of winning and by continuing to resist they are allowing death and destruction they could avoid by agreeing to peace. Even though they were not the aggressor is it true that they are in the wrong according to Just War theory?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. TonyApril 2, 2026 at 3:33 PM

      Unfortunately, I suspect that the answer is quite complicated, primarily by the question of "what constitutes 'a win'?" They have no prospect of overcoming the US forces within the US. They have no plausible hope of a successful battlefield where they meet the US forces in battle in Iran and win. They cannot plausibly project a clear situation in the near future where the US caves in and ceases to make demands at a negotiation table.

      On the other hand, like in Iraq, they may have plausible hope of ongoing insurrection and resistance in asymmetrical warfare, guerilla warfare, and outright terrorism. They may hope for a protracted period of occupation where they push the cost of occupation ever higher, and eventually get a weak president with a weak Congress willing to depart under any terms at all, even dishonorably and at great (unnecessary) cost to the US - like Biden fleeing Afghanistan with his empty scrotum between his legs.

      If they were to undertake this level of difficulty and long-range planning on the basis of a true religious spirit and in service of the true religion (like the Maccabees did) this would appear to be just. Of course, doing it on the basis of their own power mongering and a false religion compounds the difficulty of the analysis. But generally, since under just war theory it is only ever possible that ONE side is justly entering into the war, but it is possible that BOTH are unjustly going to war, we can infer that they are unjustly extending the war even if also the US is unjust. In particular, since they could end the war by giving up unjust objectives of using violence to make other nations kneel to (their version of) Islam, a false religion, yes, their refusal to yield is unjust.

      Delete
  2. AnonymousApril 2, 2026 at 3:02 PM

    Thanks, Ed. Your stuff, as well as the Pope's and some others' comments, has really helped me see this conflict through a more Catholic perspective. I really appreciate it.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)