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World War II, Nuclear Arms, and the Just War
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12796 |
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MODERN THOUGHT
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3 / 1987 |
6,100 Words |
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Stephen J. Sniegoski
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In the recent debate over the morality of nuclear weapons, one argument has arisen that is especially compelling to traditionalists: that nuclear weapons inherently threaten the lives of innocent noncombatants and thus violate the doctrine of the just war. This just-war argument looms large in the American Catholic bishop's pastoral letter, "The Challenge of Peace: God's Promise and Our Response."
The immunity of noncombatants in war has not only been the traditional teaching of the Catholic Church but but has been the cornerstone of international rules of war. As Geoffrey Best writes in Humanity in Warfare: "Upon the distinction between civilian and combatant, after all, the whole idea of a law of war absolutely depends."
Traditional just-war doctrine categorically prohibits the deliberate killing of civilians. This does not rule out the unintentional killing of civilians resulting from an attack on a legitimate military target, but there must be a morally valid reason to justify civilian deaths. In short, the good intended end must be proportionate to the evil consequences. Anticipating huge civilian casualties to be the result of any conceivable nuclear war, even if such attacks are restricted to military targets, the American bishops reject the use of nuclear weapons as "morally disproportionate."
While this concern about civilian fatalities has led to much rethinking about America's nuclear posture, not much effort has been made to determine to what extent previous wars abided by the civilian immunity standard. Most significantly, Allied activities during World War II have been given little attention.
To almost all Americans, the strategies of World War II are regarded as morally justifiable (except for, perhaps, the use of the atomic bomb against Japan). World War II is represented as a noble cause to destroy the ultimate evil of fascism. This interpretation is driven home by books, television documentaries, and movies. Liberals constantly contrast this war with the allegedly tainted morality of America's actions in Korea and Vietnam. The methods by which this glorious victory was achieved are rarely questioned. Conveniently ignored is the fact that approximately one million German and Japanese civilians were killed by Allied bombing during World War II, and that 90 percent of these fatalities were caused by conventional, not nuclear, weapons. In light of the current concern about the impact of nuclear weapons, it is instructive to take a close look at the Allied bombing policy during World War II.
Strategy Of Civilian Panic
Although missiles carrying atomic warheads are now looked upon as the ultimate weapons of mass destruction, other types of modern technological weapons have also engendered this fear. Just prior to, and during World War I, dirigible airships were envisioned as invulnerable weapons of war, floating high above artillery range and dropping bombs on helpless cities below, until they were destroyed. The German zeppelin was designed to serve this purpose, though in the first years of the war the German government placed restrictions on its targets. While German bombing of Britain by both zeppelins and airplanes during World War I only caused about 1,500 fatalities (Allied bombing of Germany took even fewer lives), its effect of inducing panic among civilians was significant. This had great
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