Just War Theory Quotes

Kill all the Germans you can, but do not put them up against the wall and kill them. Do your killing while they’re still fighting. After a man has surrendered, he should be treated exactly in accordance with the Rules of Land Warfare, and just as you would hope to be treated if you were fool enough to surrender… Americans do not kick people in the teeth after they are down.

Unless a nation's life faces peril, war is murder.

Not all moral issues have the same moral weight as abortion and euthanasia. There may be legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty, but not... with regard to abortion and euthanasia.

'Sicario' is about how the Western world reacts toward problems outside of its borders. Should we become monsters in order to fight the monsters? It's not about the cartels. The movie could have been set in Africa or the Middle East.

The question of whether we should drop this new bomb on Japan involves such imponderable considerations as to remove it from the field of a military decision.

What I've learned, and will try to remember from now on, is that defending your country's credibility is never sufficient reason to fight a war.

We must begin by acknowledging the hard truth: We will not eradicate violent conflict in our lifetimes. There will be times when nations—acting individually or in concert—will find the use of force not only necessary but morally justified.

I have no regrets. I think we did right, and we couldn't have done differently. In wartime, it was a desperate time .... When you are in a war to the death, I don't think you stand around and ask, is it right?

Wars of necessity are essentially unavoidable. They involve the most important national interests, a lack of promising alternatives to the use of force, and a certain and considerable price to be paid if the status quo is allowed to stand. Examples include World War II and the Korean War.

The man who does not think it was America's duty to fight for her own sake in view of the infamous conduct of Germany toward us stands on a level with a man who wouldn't think it necessary to fight in a private quarrel because his wife's face was slapped.

The troops are therefore empowered and are in duty bound in this war to use without mitigation even against women and children any means that will lead to success.

I'm not saying it was wrong to intervene in Kosovo.

I will always be an advocate in terms of wars of necessity. I am just much more cautious on wars of choice.

Americans must not be given the impression that they have a duty to go to war against every evil leader in the world and against every transgression of the international order.

The law is silent during war. Silent leges inter arma.

What is and isn't justified by military necessity is, naturally, open to interpretation. One of the key concepts, though, is the law of proportionality. A military attack that results in civilian casualties - 'collateral damage' - is acceptable as long as the military benefits outweigh the price that is paid by humanity.

Governments cannot be denied the right to legitimate self defense once every means of peaceful settlement has been exhausted.

The Second World War is and was constantly being drudged up by Blair and Bush to rationalize the invasion of Iraq.

A war is never undertaken by the ideal state, except in defense of its honor or its safety.

I’m not opposed to all wars; just dumb wars.

I think that war is diplomacy by other means, for sure, and there have been wars that have been fought for righteous reasons. There are wars that have had to be fought, and there will probably continue to be.

What about Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Were there not innocent civilians there? We are simply taking the rules of engagement that you have invented and turning them back against you.

The Bible nowhere prohibits war. In the Old Testament we find war and even conquest positively commanded, and although war was raging in the time of Christ and His apostles, still they said not a word of its unlawfulness and immorality.

To defeat evil, we may have to traffic in evils: indefinite detention of suspects, coercive interrogations, targeted assassinations, even pre-emptive war.

I remain troubled by the deliberate killing of civilians, whether by the United States or by its enemies.