Military, MIGHT, Just-War . . .

The need for external safeguards in shepherding the current 'lame-duck' Administration of Bush-Cheney is of the utmost importance . . .

In the thought of St. Augustine (300's - 400's A.D.) and in the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas (1200's A.D.), the classic understandings of "Just War" have been formulated, principles which are through 2008 even, still maintaining the "ethics" of the U.S. Military!

Jus Ad Bellum refers to the moral principles which guide the decision to even "go to war" in the first place. Should a nation simply attack a potential threat? Well, in spite of Bush's historic blunder in making "preemptive strikes" the new American Foreign Policy (regime change), such preemptive use of the military in order to impose order on unstable regions of the world is simply immoral according to current and 1,600 years of Just-War Thought . . .

Similarly, in the actual fighting of a war (Jus In Bello) we have historic Western European and North American safeguards against torture. No, "water-boarding" by the C.I.A. does not constitute a "just" waging of war!

This is torture, and signals a slide towards dictatorship that the "Bush-Cheney" era has unleashed on our collective American psyche.

Things have become so bad in the G.O.P. (Bush and Cheney are supposed "moderates" remember!!!), that in spite of being firmly Pro-Life (I am Catholic . . .), I could no longer in good conscience support a political party that was only unified by greed.

Why did we attack Iraq? Well, we needed their oil!

We did not "attack" other nations.

But, we went where the oil was . . .

Hmmm . . .

Blessings in Christ Jesus,
Professor Rob J. King, M.Div., Th.M., Ph.D. (ABD*)