Responding to Syria
It was reported in the news earlier this week that there was an attack in Syria using chemical weapons. This is considered an attack by the government in power against its own people. In response to this specific attack following a history of great conflict in Syria, President Trump ordered missile attacks against an airbase in Syria.
I wish to make no judgment on this response. I haven’t had much chance to follow the news this week so my information is incomplete. Therefore, it would be completely inappropriate for me to make any judgment.
That being said, I was sitting in church praying this evening before people arrived for Stations of the Cross. My prayers always include a prayer for our government leaders to make good decisions that respect the dignity of all life. As I offered my prayers the thought of “Just War Theory” came to me with the thought of reminding people about it on my blog.
Please allow me to say that by using the term “Just War Theory”, I do not mean to call what is has happened in Syria this week an act of war. Certainly, there is great conflict within Syria with a terrible loss of life. Whatever you think of what is going on in Syria, the events of this week give us reason to think about the ethics that must be considered in decisions regarding armed conflict.
You can read the complete list of criteria for a just war in an article, “Just War Theory”, on my website. Here, I will just mention a couple of them. The criteria that most seems to come up when one nation acts against another in such circumstances is “legitimate authority.” I’m sure that will be brought up by some but I want to draw your attention to another criteria that I feel it often not given complete consideration, “probability of success.”
I stress “complete consideration” because I think ‘success’ is probably always considered in some way. Why attack if there can be no success? I feel what is sometimes forgotten is what defines ‘success.’ If you look at what happened in Iraq, if ‘success’ was defined in 2003 as ‘getting Hussein out of power’ then success was achieved. If “success” is defined as making Iraq and the world better, I am not so sure.
Again, I do not have the information to make any judgment about this week’s events in Syria. I just want to take this opportunity to point out to you what our Catholic faith says about “Just War Theory”.
Peace,
Fr. Jeff