Neo-Conned! Just War Principles: A Condemnation of War in Iraq

by O'Huallachain, D. Liam; Sharpe, J. Forrest; Capucci, Bishop Hilarion; Lopez, George

• ISBN13: 9781932528046
• ISBN10: 1932528040
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-12-15
• Publisher: IHS Press

Summary

Refuting the myth that America's socially conservative thinkers, journalists, and commentators tend to support the war in Iraq, this text incorporates the opinions of some of the leading figures in America's conservative movement on why the decision to go to war and the continuing occupation of Iraq was and is the wrong course of action. Twenty-five articles by influential thinkers such as former presidential candidate Pat Buchanan, syndicated columnists Sam Francis, Joseph Sobran, Eric Margolis, and Charley Reese, leading economist Jude Wanniski, social critics Tom Fleming and Paul Gottfried, and religious figures Bishop John Michael Botean and the late Alfredo Cardinal Ottaviani make the case against the Iraqi conflict using conservative arguments on geopolitics, Christian morality, and common sense. Four detailed appendices on the war teachings of the Roman Catholic Church are also provided.

Author Biography

John Sharpe is a scholar of distributism and Catholic social thought and the publisher and managing director of IHS press. He lives in Vienna, Virginia. Deric O'Huallachain is a scholar of alternative and Catholic social thought and the editorial director of IHS press.

Table of Contents

Foreword	xiii
Bishop Hilarion Capucci
Introduction	xv
Prof. George A. Lopez, Ph.D.
I. THE STATESMEN SPEAK: A WAR BOTH UNNECESSARY AND VAIN
1. The (Bogus) Case Against Saddam	3	(132)
An Interview with Jude Wanniski
Postscript. The "Oppression of the Shiites"	81	(8)
Muhammad al-Baghdadi
Postscript. The Adverse Consequences Economic Sanctions Had on the Enjoyment of Human Rights in Iraq	89	(8)
Marc Bossuyt, Ph.D., J.D.
Postscript. The Real "Oil-for-Food" Scandal	97	(38)
Prof. Joy Gordon, Ph.D.
I. Cool War	97	(1)
II. Sanctions, Just-War Doctrine, and the "Fearful Spectacle of the Civilian Dead"	109	(1)
III. A Weapon of Mass Distraction	122	(13)
2. Whose War?	135	(16)
Patrick J. Buchanan
II. CONSERVATIVE AND ANTI-WAR: PATRIOTISM, PRUDENCE, AND THE MORAL LAW
3. Refuge of Scoundrels: Patriotism, True and False, in the Iraq War Controversy	151	(10)
Samuel Francis, Ph.D.
4. On Morals, Motives, and Men	161	(6)
Joseph Sobran
5. Legal Nonsense	167	(4)
Charley Reese
6. Riding the Red Horse: War and the Prospects of Success,	171	(12)
Thomas Fleming, Ph.D.
7. A Mirage Too Far	183	(8)
Eric S. Margolis
8. The Failure of War	191	(8)
Wendell Berry
9. A Conservative War?	199
Prof. Paul Gottfried, Ph.D.
III. THE VENERABLE TRADITION: PUTTING THE BRAKES ON AGGRESSION AND SECURING JUSTICE FOR IRAQ
10. Might Is Not Right: Why "Preventive War" Is Immoral	211	(12)
Fr. Juan Carlos Iscara
I. Self-Defense	211	(3)
II. "Pre-Emptive Strike"	214	(2)
III. "Preventive War"	216	(3)
IV. Closing Reflection	219	(4)
11. Epistemic Inadequacy, Catholic Just-War Criteria, and the War in Iraq	223	(24)
Prof. Thomas Ryba, Ph.D.
12. A Review of the Literature: Exposing the Fallacies in Defense of the Invasion of Iraq	247	(10)
David Gordon, Ph.D.
13. Iraq: Sovereignty and Conscience	257	(12)
Prof. James Hanink, Ph.D.
IV. JUDGMENT AND INSPIRATION: THE CHURCH STILL SPEAKS WITH AUTHORITY
14. To Whom Should We Go? Legitimate Authority and Just Wars	269	(22)
Prof. William T. Cavanaugh, Ph.D.
15. A Moment of Moral Crisis	291	(12)
The Lent 2003 letter of Bishop John Michael Botean
Postscript. The Bishop Explains	295	(5)
Bishop John Michael Botean
Postscript. A Canonist Comments	300	(17)
Edward Peters, J.C.D., J.D.
16. Peace Is Still Possible: The Unity of the Church in the Face of the Iraq War	303	(14)
Deacon Keith Fournier, Esq.
V. A HIGHER LAW: CONSCIENCE, MORALITY, AND THE TRANSCENDENT VISION
17. Decadent, Belligerent, and Incorrigible	317	(14)
Prof. John Rao, D. Phil
18. Setting Just Limits to New Methods of Warfare'	331	(14)
Robert Hickson, USA (ret.), Ph.D.
19 The Morality of Weapons Systems	345	(8)
Paul Likoudis
20. Christian Killers?	353	(8)
Laurence M. Vance, Ph.D.
21. Is Conscientious Objection a Moral Option?	361	(14)
Peter E. Chojnowski, Ph.D.
22. The Sounds of Conscience	375	(4)
Former Army Staff Sgt. Camilo Mejia
Section V Appendix. A Tribunal	379	(8)
Eric Gill
VI. SPEAKING WITH AUTHORITY: THE TRUE JUST-WAR DOCTRINE AS A LIGHT FOR OUR TIME
Appendix I. Just-War Doctrine: The Metaphysical and Moral Problem	387	(32)
Fr. Franziskus Stratmann, O.P.
A. The Necessity of War	387	(3)
B. Just and Unjust War	390	(29)
Appendix II. Modern War Is to Be Absolutely Forbidden	419	(8)
Alfredo Cardinal Ottaviani
Appendix III. A Study of the Development of Church Teaching on Matters of War and Peace	427	(10)
Prof. Romano Amerio
About the Contributors	437	(8)
Acknowledgements,	445	(1)
Further Resources	446