Is there any such thing as a "just" war?

[amethysted_ink]

Most wars are about greed and conquest, packaged in terms of nationalism and humanitarian intervention.  That last one doesn't work.  For each time we intervened in the name of human rights, there is a counterexample in which we sat idly or abetted corrupt regimes because it worked to our advantage.  How then do we pick and choose

Comments

[twitchhitter]

Sting - "Russians"

In Europe and America, there's a growing feeling of hysteria
Conditioned to respond to all the threats
In the rhetorical speeches of the Soviets
Mr. Krushchev said we will bury you
I don't subscribe to this point of view
It would be such an ignorant thing to do
If the Russians love their children too

How can I save my little boy from Oppenheimer's deadly toy
There is no monopoly in common sense
On either side of the political fence
We share the same biology
Regardless of ideology
Believe me when I say to you
I hope the Russians love their children too

There is no historical precedent
To put the words in the mouth of the President
There's no such thing as a winnable war
It's a lie that we don't believe anymore
Mr. Reagan says we will protect you
I don't subscribe to this point of view
Believe me when I say to you
I hope the Russians love their children too

We share the same biology
Regardless of ideology
What might save us, me, and you
Is if the Russians love their children too

[aznina]

There are protests. All the time. But the media doesn't cover them because they are too scared to cause a stir. I agree with you: It's pretty pathetic that that's what we've come to.

[spider_matt]

So I'm reading this book called Dying to Win The book is about suicide terrorism but the passage below talks about certain people who used suicide to provoke change without killing other people. For some reason this LJ post popped to mind. I remembered you asking why there wasn't a movement similar to that of the 60s. I guess this is what it takes to provoke change:

Famous self-immolations and hunger strikes did occur, but these were mainly demonstrative acts intended to evoke political sympathy and involved little risk of harming others. Mahatma Gandhi staged numerous hunger strikes against British rule in India, including in 1947; these events evoked sympathy from the British public and may have hastened Indian independence. In South Vietnam during the 1960s, Buddhist monks and nuns burned themselves to death in protest against religious persecution by the regime of the Catholic president, Ngo Dinh Diem. These horrific suicides inspired as many as 20,000 South Vietnamese to take to the streets in Saigon to demand the formation