Is War Ever Just?

I would argue that we must give great weight to the Fathers of the Church, especially St Augustine from whom the Church primarily gets her formulation of Just War Theory. While not infallible I would suggest that their opinion matters greatly and I think I would rather refuse the op ed's of the NY Times over the spiritual wisdom of tradition and the Fathers which consider that there are times when war is just. I'm certain the Jews in Dachau thought so.

Another point: If war as you imply is never just what do we do with the Old Testament and God's seeming approval and even initiative in bringing them about? And likewise there is a deafening silence on Jesus' part in his dealings with the Roman Centurians.