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The tragic costs of avoiding pre-emptive war
Had the call for pre-emptive war been heeded at past times, writes Victor Davis Hanson, Athens could have halted the growth of the Macedonian empire and preserved its own independence, Europe could have prevented the Ottoman conquest of the Balkans, and Hitler could have been stopped before he destroyed Europe. But the call for pre-emptive war is always dismissed by the complacent majority as an irritant to our pleasant peace, or as the ravings of a bloodthirsty warmonger. It always seems more moral and civilized to call for peace, for ever more “negotiations,” rather than for war. The immediate costs of waging war now, rather than later, are obvious to everyone. The costs—in piles of corpses, in lost liberties, in ruined societies— of failing to make war now, rather than later, are never calculated. Posted by Lawrence Auster at October 18, 2002 11:22 AM | Send Comments
Has anyone come across an argument that has attempted to square the faddish pre-emptive war doctrine of today with solid Catholic Just War theory? I have just begun Wm Manchester’s “The Last Lion”, the life of Churchill during the 1930’s. It is amazing how similar the current baby boomers who had their view of the world forged during the Vietnam era are to the British and French leaders of the ‘30’s who had their world forged during WWI. Both reveal a tendency to not want to go through “that” again and consequently allow room for an evil force to grow and eventually tear the world apart. Good reading for anyone who wants to understand just what we are in the middle of today. Posted by: Charles Rostkowski on October 19, 2002 9:36 AMMr. Rostkowski - What are we in the middle of today. Please elaborate. Most of the sabre rattlers of today are in fact part of the baby boom generation. MJK Posted by: MJK on October 24, 2002 6:07 PMThe members of the baby boom elite have indeed been prone to use or threaten military force. This is true for both parties. Note how many air strikes Clinton launched, every time he got in political trouble. Posted by: David on October 24, 2002 9:59 PMMr. Rostkowski- You have hit on something that is the premise of two books by the authors William Strauss and Neil Howe. I highly recomend you read “Gemerations” and “The Fourth Turning”. The basic premise of their hypotheisis is one of historic cycles revolving around a repetition of four repeating generational types. I have to warn you the first book is often redundent, but very interesting reading none the less. Posted by: Dietz Smith on October 24, 2002 10:17 PMMr. Rostkowski- You have hit on something that is the premise of two books by the authors William Strauss and Neil Howe. I highly recomend you read “Gemerations” and “The Fourth Turning”. The basic premise of their hypotheisis is one of historic cycles revolving around a repetition of four repeating generational types. I have to warn you the first book is often redundent, but very interesting reading none the less. Posted by: Dietz Smith on October 24, 2002 10:17 PM |