essay on: is war ever justified?
111819
Even monkeys make war. Its nature.
106472
To justify any war is to tell your kids,fighting will solve the problem.I don't think so,we truce with them and resolve the mistakes we make in life by being civil.Yeah,thats the life we should all live by and we don't.The world would be a better place if the respect,was there.The war is any excuse to show pravery.
823863
I truly do not know how to answer this question in full. I, personally, am not particularly fond of war, and yet it is a fact that it happens. So, then, what to think and do about it?\n\nJust for example, it would appear that Allied retaliation to the Axis during World War II was justified war. Germany was attempting to take over Europe and parts of Eurasia and spread its hate-centered, anti-Jewish zeitgeist all over the place. It would seem to me that the desire to exterminate an entire people based upon their bloodline--i.e., the Jews in this case--is evil and should be stopped. While there were many other motives involved in that war--Germany's wish for power and resources--it was the anti-Semitism that was most abhorrent, and thereby justified cause for war.\n\nFast-forward to the modern-day war waged between the U.S. and Iraq. The declaration insists that this is about terrorism and tyranny.  But we all know that Hussein was not directly allied with Al-Qaeda, even if he had certain affections for them. That is, Iraq was not the cause for the attacks on the U.S. on 9/11/01...and yet many Americans were led to believe that it was. So the reasoning for the war got changed from anti-terrorism to pro-democracy...which is, in this one case, insufficient cause to go to war. Iraqis--many, at least--did not ask the U.S. for help in liberating itself, and so the U.S. is attempting to force its system of government onto a foreign land when many in that land are opposed to it. So the question of evil is confused here. If many Iraqis had been pleading for the U.S. to help them, that would be another story. If the U.S. just sees that others are oppressed, or whatever, and rides in on the white horses in an attempt to bring liberation, this seems unjustifiable.\n\nGood and evil are not in the eye of the beholder, I don't think. But I do think that "good" and "evil" are ill-defined for political purposes a lot of the time, and that many are led to believe certain others are evil so as a state-sponsored war can be waged...when the true motives for that war are undisclosed to the very people supporting it.\n\nBut to give a clear and simple answer to your bigger question, "What's to say what's good and what's evil?"...God is to say what is good and what is evil. It is just a question of whether the people waging and fighting war have sought God's will and guidance before engaging their military machines. And we all know that more naive minds can be manipulated into believing that a war is God's will when really it is the mere will of people who are seeking access to natural resources, strongholds in unstable regions, land, power, and glory.
1084377
By definition if a war is "never-ending" then it can't possibly be won.  Or lost for that matter.  Simple logic dictates this conclusion.
1166554
war is part of human nature and it will always be part of our lives...it is the psychological need for conflict that drives our instinct to fight....without it we would be passive and unable to survive as a species
1094211
don't waste time defending this proposition. the fact is that all wars have survivors, even nuclear war. I'd suggest that your essay should chronicle progression of the mass murder that commenced in 1938 and continued through August 1945, with the extermination of 35 - 50 million (no one knows exact casualty totals) people during WW II. Billions survived this catastrophe, and billions will survive the next one.  Nonsense aphorisms such as the one your essay is to explore seem sensible, but in fact serve no purpose other than to distract rational persons from viewing their world in terms of its history and likely - even if dark - future. good luck!
624728
Racism, for it is never justified.  One might say that being jingoistic could be justified on patriotic grounds, but racism can never be.
451961
The arguments against a war are formidable.    Those who say we shouldn't send our boys (and girls) to some far off land to die are right.  Those who say war will increase Middle East violence are right. Those who say war is unthinkable are right.\n\nMilitary strikes, even limited ones, will have devastating consequences for the region and the world.\n\nAll the arguments are fearful and powerful. But taken together, squared, then cubed, they don't come close to matching the case to stop a rogue leader from acquiring nuclear power...especially one espousing apocolyptical Islamic fundalmentalism.\n\nIf Iran gets safely and unmolested to nuclear status, it will be a threshold event up there with the coming of Hitler and the Bolshevik Revolution.\n\nAm i ready for another war?  Not really, but i guess we must steel ourselves for the UNTHINKABLE NECESSITY.
581923
Depends on the circumstances.\n\nFor example: if country 'A' declares war and attacks - then country 'B' had better do something.\n\nHowever there have been times when a country has declared war and been ignored (such as the three times Iran has declared war on the US).
1176064
It's true, it's DAMN true. You can fight for peace, but only if there is no peace to begin with. If they were fighting in Danfur to get rid of the Janjaweed, then I'd think to consider it fighting for peace. But this war, I don't agree with.\n\nEDIT:\nIt's a shame that so many people (including Turbowedgie) want to compare this to the Great War. Let's use realistic lingo, such as "Don't you think we would have won Nam if it hadn't been for those un-American jackasses that wanted us out? What's another life or two? Just keep on napalmin' and they'd surrender, eventually."
334457
intresting choice of words.. peace 'take over the world', sounds military. Its also the only way I see peace coming, if someone imposes a 'Pax Romanum' and ends war by conquering everybody. Is peace neccesay? Surely your question should be is war neccesary? as peace is surely the better aim. Peace is neccesary for there to even be people. Sadly war is neccesary for some people to impose theor will over other people.
339086
war is never a good option to ending any dispute.  defense of those you love is done out of necessity but going out of your way to kill another human being because you disagree with their ideas or do not like the way they look...i don't know.  that just sounds...i don't know...evil.
764215
Violence as a solution to any problem should only be a last resort. In a perfect world there would be no war, but we do not live in a perfect world. The United States cannot police the whole world it is just unworkable and unrealistic. The problem in the way we choose our fights. Wars we engage in are the ones where we perceive a vital national interest rather than a humanitarian one. Iraq is a good example. While there is a humanitarian side of the conflict, we would not be there if the country did not possess a large oil supply. Oil is central to the US economy and therefore represents a vital national interest. Compare this with Dafur. A terrible genocide is occurring there, but honestly speaking they have nothing we want. The optimum world military situation would be one where nations acted together against tyrants, but unfortunately political realities do not allow for this.
192612
St. Thomas does not address whether a particular war was just.  However, you can apply his principles to wars to figure it our on your own.\n\nHe discusses a just war in the Summa Theologica, Secunda Secundae, Q. 40, a., 1:\n\n"In order for a war to be just, three things are necessary. First, the authority of the sovereign by whose command the war is to be waged. . . .\n\n"Secondly, a just cause is required, namely that those who are attacked, should be attacked because they deserve it on account of some fault.  . . .\n\n"Thirdly, it is necessary that the belligerents should have a rightful intention, so that they intend the advancement of good, or the avoidance of evil."
1021727
War is simply organized aggression. Aggression is the result of people making choices. People are sinners by virtue of the gift of free-will. As long as there are people, there will be war-aggression-sin.
158524
you should give a topic sentence like, people say war is wrong, but who would of penetrated the offensive attack of the nazi regime without war? without war who would made it clear nobody could take over the world. without war, Hitler would have taken control of all of asia and enlgland. without war, hussein will of have destroyed the kuwait country. people say war is only to kill, how many times war has saved many more lives than it has destroyed. without war how many more jews could of have been killed. without war we will be sitting ducks for al-queda. give an example of a great non-violent war ex. without war the U.S.S.R will have still be our enemy and be in fear without the ability to have fun.without war there will still be slavery, without war we would lost the alamo and let the mexicans take U.S soil. amd without war who will be protecting the lives of many people in the war on terrorism. any more e-mail me at rheindheart@yahoo.com , be really specific in your questions of the debate, i won 3 debates out of 5. so you could trust me. and im 14 so e-mail me , we could write to each other if you want, prett cool to see somebody my age.\n\nand if you are a con onwar you could say what the horrors of war brought. like in war we have brought the introduction of the atomic power AND GIVE AN EXAMPLe ON THE FIRST DROPPED BOMB on hiroshima. On augost 6, 1945, the united states of america dropped the fist atomic bomb, on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, a decision that ushered in the nuclear age giving it to the wrong hands of people.\nwhen the atomic bomb exploded at 8:1 A.M, 70,000 people were killed instantly. thousands more were dead of radiation sickness. also you could say war is nothing but greedyness like dick cheney control of the iraq oil fields. and weapons meant and made out of waste and enoigh to kill a person. give examples of weapons of guns, like the .50 M2HB the .50 is made out of nuclear waste called depleted uranium,its the most heaviest metal and strongest metal on earth.  tell them that many people died of that guns because if it hits you , you will die because the gun is a monster, if you survive it will mes your life up and your future family for 25,000 years. amd when people fire it the fumes of the Depleteed Uranium goes every direction and if you inhale it it affect 2 parts of the body, your brain and the reproductive system. imagine suffering for 25,00 yrs only for killing?
533105
Sic vis pacem parabellum\n"If you desire peace, prepare for war."\n\nWithout war, there can be no peace. It sounds like a paradox, I know, but it's true. True peace is won through war, and can only be truly appreciated after it has been fought, bled, and died for. However high the cost of war may be, sometimes the cost of not going to war can be higher. Being a pacifist will assuredly make you a victim. We can't just forgive and forget every transgression commited against us and expect to be respected or taken seriously. Would you respect someone who allows others to take advantage of their good nature at will? I want peace (believe it or not), but not at the expense of our national sovereignty and dignity. Simply appeasing the demands of dictators and terrorists to avoid war isn't peace, that is scarcely better than slavery. As cynical as it sounds, you have to kick some a*s every now and then to be respected. Such is the nature of the world and human nature in general. If you want to believe in the peace at any price fantasy, that's up to you. But I would rather die a free man with a gun in my hands than live for a hundred years by our enemy's permission. \n\nThe only earth the meek will inherit is the 6x4 plot they are buried in.\n\nREMEMBER 9/11\nNEVER FORGIVE! NEVER FORGET!\nPEACE THROUGH VICTORY!