[mark502inf]

Augustine's criteria for just war pre-date the Westphalian system of the nation-state. As such, they clearly are not legalistic, but instead moral-ethical guidelines derived from the Christian faith. They require the use of judgment informed by the same faith from which they are derived for proper application. It was never intended to be applied or interpreted by lawyers or bureaucrats, but instead by religious leaders and national rulers presumed to be operating from a common base of faith and values.

A laundry list of specific criteria, while certainly beloved of lawyers, would be both too permissive and too limiting. The sample criteria includes such concepts as a nation's honor--which could be stretched to apply to some very dubious situations. At the same time, a specific set of criteria as proposed will never cover all situations. Classic just war theory remains appropriate.

[xzins]

This feebleness inevitably led to the resurgence of "might is right" unilateralism, as practiced, for instance, by the United States in places as diverse as Grenada and Iraq.

This is horse-pucky.

The US was unilaterally attacked and 3000 of its citizens killed on 9/11. Members of the same terrorist group had bombed at a minimum, 2 of our embassies, one of our barracks, and one of our warships.

The US acted in self-defense and continues to do so. The statement included anyone who aided, abetted, harbored, or were in any way complict with the terrorists.

Iraq fits those criteria. (So does Syria, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Sudan, Somalia,....)

[RussianConservative]

Orthodox Christianity not accept concept of just war.