Saint Thomas Aquinas Quote - Liberty Quotes Blog

"In order for a war to be just,
three things are necessary.
First, the authority of the sovereign....
Secondly, a just cause....
Thirdly ... a rightful intention."

by:	Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-74) Italian philosopher and theologian
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Categories:	Honor, Integrity, Justice, Peace, Sovereignty, War
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Reader comments about this quote:

It certainly gives credence to our war in the Middle East - just cause - self defense - a rightful intention - establish a living democracy in the middle east of the Arab nations. -- Annonymous, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 2
Credence to our war in the middle east? Here is a quote for you.PUT UP THY SWORD AGAIN INTO ITS PLACE : FOR ALL THEY THAT TAKE THE SWORD SHALL PERISH BY THE SWORD. -- JESUS, HEAVEN 1
ANYTIME ANYONE SAYS THAT ISRAEL IS OUR ONLY FRIEND IN THE MIDDLE EAST, I CAN'T HELP BUT THINK THAT BEFORE ISRAEL WE HAD NO ENEMIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST. -- JOHN SHEEHAN, JESUIT PRIEST 1
Amen Jesus & John. Those from Florida have already shown that they can't even read a simple ballot to vote, that one of them would misinterpret a quote such as this, which clearly condemns the unjust occupation of a foreign nation by the mass murderer we call King George W holds no surprise. Authority? No, he stuffed the ballot boxes of two elections and lied to the world. Just? No, its about oil and avenging his father. Rightful? No, profits for war mungers and world domination are not rightful. -- Anonymous, Reston, VA US 1
I'm not sure I would define it quite like the quote though I definitely like the quote. John, cute little jingle but, it wasn't the presence of Israel that created our enemies in the area, it has been the intervention into other sovereign nations affairs since the major development of oil. -- Mike, Norwalk 2
Civility, something our forefathers cherished and something lacking in men today. I only wish people would approach their differences with this in mind. Where is your credibility when such language is used. "[1] Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. [2] Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. [3] For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: [4] For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the SWORD in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. -- Sam, Alabama 1
Is the Iraq War just? 1. We the People are the sovereigns who declare war through our Congress -- did Congress declare war? No. The Iraq War does NOT have the authority of the sovereign. 2. Considering that Iraq did not attack the US (remember that Bin Laden is Saudi and so were the hijackers on 9-11) and that only the People can declare their own freedom (read the Iraqi Constitution -- it is not anything like the US Constitution -- it is a civil constitution in which the government is sovereign and the people its subjects), and that Iraqi resources have been seized by the US military, well, it doesn't sound like a just cause to me. 3. A rightful intention? What exactly is the intention besides taking the oil, making the defense contractors rich, loading Americans up with a trillion dollars more debt while ignoring the needs at home, causing economic recession, taking away freedoms via the Patriot Act and other similar legislation -- if indenturing the American people further is not the intention, then why is it the result? No, the Iraq War is NOT just and is in fact putting America and its freedom in dire jeopardy. -- E Archer, NYC 2
Mr. Anonymous got it right. U. S. congress did approve our presence in Iraq. We took no oil. Some one needs to wake up. This ati war crapp that I see on this site is depressing. I have always been a pacifist at heart but there are a few things worth fighting for and this cause is one of them. Any one that believes that the war against the terrorists in Iraq is not in our nations (as well as the Middle East’s) best interests has let their hatred for this country or George Bush blind their reason. I see people on this site that hate corporations so much that they appear to prefer a communist or fascist form of government over ours. We are a free people. The only way a free people can exist is in conjunction with a free enterprise system. When you go through life seeing a big bad corporation lurking behind every corner you open your self up to endorsing a kind of government that will be totalitarian in nature just to protect you from "evil" corporations. Hatred is the absence of reason. When you fill your self with hate you will soon accept anything or anyone that opposes the object of your hate. That is the tactic of the fascist left in this country. Inspire hate and you no longer have to deal with reason. Reason is something the left has never been able to handle. Until you realize that you are being manipulated by the left into a state of blind hatred you will not have the ability to reason. War is a horrible activity. War was brought to us. Unfortunately we ignored it for many years pretending we were not in a war. We were losing it and would have continued to loose it if we hadn't finally woke up on 9/11 and started dong something about it. This is probably the most important war we have ever fought. Our very existence is threatened and worst of all we have so many people that want to do an ostrich imitation. It seems that gone is the day of JFK and “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.” Now it is apparent that liberty and freedom is not worth much too many of us at all. Ignore those that intend to put an end to our way of life and they will do just that. -- warren, olathe 1
John, your word salad reeks of the old adage: Those that forget history are doomed to relive it. Shia and Sunni were fighting each other since before 1948 (when we took a side, we had enemies). When the Barbary wars were fought by Jefferson, there were Sunnis throughout the Middle East that were our enemies. Since America's special brand of colonizing in the Middle East (Iran for example), Shia have become our Enemies. Before Israel (1948) America had plenty of enemies in the Middle East. I could, and probably should go on but... -- Mike, Norwalk
I do hope Warren that you have managed to see now, decades later, that the war in Iraq was predicated on false evidence (i.e. the presence of weapons of mass destruction) and the control of Iraqi oil — yes, the US military's very first objective was to secure the oil, which they did and still do. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi citizens were killed, if not millions. Their monetary system of the gold dinar was replaced with paper fiat under the control of the western central banks of the USA and UK. I still stand by my post above, 16 years after the fact. -- E Archer, NYC

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