Military strike against Syria? Dear God. Please no.
Dear God, not more war. I am so weary of war, war, war. I am weary of factions, sectarianism, tribalism, feuding and children being gassed in their schools. And chemical wars and and threats of war and the whole screwed-up mess that is the entire Middle East. I don't understand what possible GOOD a military strike would do; what possible good it would do to engage ourselves in yet ANOTHER conflict on the other side of the world? I am weary, so weary of U.S. military interventions. Yes, my heart breaks for the children and innocents being slaughtered---and yes, we must do something--but more war? Haven't we already been down this road in the Middle East? We already know how this story ends, don't we? And what are the objectives? What solution can possibly come from lobbing a few cruise missiles at "military targets"? I read a piece at the Washington Post about "Just War" and whether Christians should support a strike in Syria. Here's an excerpt:
We live in a fallen world of injustices and conflicts without easy solutions. Clearly this does not mean we should do nothing, but we should have a sense of humility about the limits to our ability to perfect the world. The failure to recognize our limitations itself results from our sinfulness and leads to further injustice. As Pope John Paul II pointed out in his 1991 encyclical Centesimus Annus in regards to the moral failures of communism in Eastern Europe, the desire for control without limitations results in the resort to violence without restraint. Violence itself becomes redemptive, the ultimate tactic for restoring order in a broken world.
The call for military intervention in Syria arises from the desire to “do something” when faced with evil, yet it is not clear what intervention will accomplish.
YES! This idea that violence itself is redemptive; that the ONLY option for restoring order and meting justice is through the "ultimate tactic" of warfare? I reject that! It's so troubling to me that THIS is where we've arrived: at a place where shooting missiles is our de-facto approach to helping the helpless. I just...I can't believe that anymore!!
In his address this morning, Pope Francis said something which I so appreciated:
Never has the use of violence brought peace in its wake. War begets war, violence begets violence...I exhort the international community to make every effort to promote clear proposals for peace in that country without further delay, a peace based on dialogue and negotiation, for the good of the entire Syrian people.... I repeat forcefully: it is neither a culture of confrontation nor a culture of conflict which builds harmony within and between peoples, but rather a culture of encounter and a culture of dialogue; this is the only way to peace.
I know there are no easy answers, here. I'm just heartbroken at the thought of the United States entering yet ANOTHER military conflict in the Mid-East. Dear God, have mercy upon us. Mary, Queen of Peace, pray for us.
What are your thoughts? Is there such a thing as Just War? And does a strike against Syria count as a "just war"? Do we have clear objectives?