(urth) (no subject)

[Dan'l Danehy-Oakes]

On Tue, Jan 18, 2011 at 9:01 AM, Lee Berman <severiansola at hotmail.com> wrote:

> What many Americans consider a justifiable,
> even necessary action is considered one of the worst crimes ever against humanity by most of
> the rest of the world. Only in the last few years have I started to notice a recognition in the
> USA of what many in the rest of the world call "Hiroshima Day".

You're right: this American (and not a conservative by any means)
considers the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki a necessary evil. The
alternative would have been a much larger cost in Japanese lives, plus
an unguessable number of American lives, as we attempted an invasion
of the Japanese Home Islands.


> Can war be a necessary evil? Some would say yes, in self-defense (opening the door to every
> military campaign becoming defined as self-defense). Others might say no. Isn't the technique
> of the Annese a legitimate counter-invasion alternative strategy to war?

The "just war" doctrine suggests that self-defense is not (quite)
sufficient reason. The Just War must (a) be fought to prevent a
palpable evil, (b) be fought in such a way that greater evil is not
wrought, and (c) have a reasonable chance of preventing that evil.

-- 
Dan'l Danehy-Oakes