Wednesday, February 26, 2003

Vatican and the war
My friend, Joe, who appears frequently in my comments boxes, send me this link, then says:
More stupidity with the Vatican. Its no wonder no one takes the Vatican seriously. Basically, they are not saying, we think it best not to have a war. They are saying that anyone who correctly applies just war theory is a criminal. How does the Vatican expect anyone to follow them on contraception and abortion when they make such ideological statements with such certitude on these other issues with a kind of moral certitude that is used on those other issues?
Although I disagree that the Vatican is saying that those who apply just war are criminal, but I do share a certain confusion about the real argument that the Vatican is trying to make. If they are saying a multilateral coalition must have U.N. approval to wage war, I'm wondering whether even the U.N. charter requires that. I know the right of a sovereign nation to wage a just war is guaranteed by the charter. I also don't know that the Vatican is in the pocket of western Europe, as Joe says in the comments box here. Keep in mind that the Pope is an eastern European. They tend to be more supportive of the U.S. position.

I agree at this point that a U.S. led coalition invasion would not necessarily be an war, as Kevin points out, just because a war is just does not mean it should be waged.

No comments: