printIn a segment today, Monday October 3, Fox News personality Tucker Carlson and guest Glenn Greenwald discussed the Evil Empire’s sabotage of Russia’s energy pipelines to Europe . (The best on the subject is FRED REED’s “A Diagnostic Letter To Our Euro-Peon Vassals, Who Are Dumber Than The Better Class Of Nematode.”)
Glenn Greenwald belabored the point as to whether a war with Russia is even advantageous to the United States and its people. This was also as far as Tucker Carlson would venture, the premise of such crass utilitarianism being that the American State has the right to do anything it wishes, provided this benefits the American people. Poppycock.
Contra Tucker Carlson and Glenn Greenwald, even if war with Russia were “advantageous to the American people”—to paraphrase the exclusively utilitarian point the two made—it is an unjust war. Like most conservatives, the two personalities mentioned ignore ethical or moral argument, never mentioning Just War theory. Or, even the constitutionally correct way to take our country to war.
See “JUST WAR FOR DUMMIES” (March 12, 2003)
*Image credit, screen picture of this image.
I’d not read, or known of, your 2003 piece “‘Just War’ for Dummies”. A good read — informative and thought-provoking. One question: Why did you reference St. Augustine, when you wrote, “The impending attack on Iraq also flunked the criterion for a preemptive war, facilitated in St. Augustine’s idea of the “just cause,” whereby it’s permissible to attack someone who would otherwise shortly and imminently attack you.”? I ask, because we have a perfectly good (and much older) basis in the Talmudic injunction of “??? ?????? ???? ??????” [If someone is coming to kill you, hurry to kill him]… probably itself the basis for St. Augustine’s “just cause”. (see here https://bit.ly/2klr9lj for an excellent discussion, albeit in Hebrew)
“I believe in adequate defense at the
coastline and nothing else.”
Author of “War is a Racket”
by: Smedley Butler