Justice Delayed

I was starting to suspect that Saddam had his legislature defy the UN resolution precisely so that he could make the magnanimous theatrical gesture of accepting. We all know this is a trap and a fraud, but we will be obliged to play along for a decent interval . . .
Is war with Saddam a Just War? It seems to me that if a war is Just, and it is settled by treaties, and one party violates those treaties in important ways . . . I mean, if that doesn’t make a renewal of hostilities itself a Just War, then the Church has essentially accepted a doctrine that tells nations that the only rational and moral way to end a Just War is by a Carthaginian peace. I think this is not what the theologians who initially expounded the theory had in mind, although the inspections charade may yet prove that this is precisely the answer. Clearly, it should be a very long time before we again agree to put a misbehaving tyrant on probation – the occupation of Japan didn’t take as long as, and probably cost less money and certainly fewer lives than, the post-Gulf War stalemate with Saddam.