I'm a candidate for the Diaconate (Deacon) in the RC Church, and I'm angry (righteously pissed off) with what has happened. Any lover of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness should be. Here is some info for those who are unfamiliar with "just war" and our current state of affairs.
The second major Christian thinker to deal with the issue of "just war" is St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274). Aquinas based himself upon St. Augustine's view of war, elaborating on the teachings of the bishop of Hippo. In explicating his theory regarding the justness of a war, Aquinas focused on defining the right to make war and the importance of the intent which stands behind the decision to go to war. In his attempt to formulate a simple rule which would give guidance on these issues, Aquinas argued that a war is justified when three basic, necessary conditions were met:
1. the war was prosecuted by a lawful authority with the power to wage war;
(the United States of America on behalf of its citizens)
2. the war was undertaken with just cause; and
(the HORRIFIC SNEAK ATTACK by foreign agents of groups and governments)
3. the war was undertaken with the right intention, that is, "to achieve some good or to avoid some evil."
(Bush's plan to eliminate evil, in the form of terrorism, throughout the world, fits the bill.)
Together with St. Augustine, Aquinas' views on the justification of war form the basic core of just war theory, and it is from their concepts that the theory of just war is adapted and expanded by later thinkers.