"There is no 'just war'"

[Scootaloo]

42. No, in point of fact

In World War 2, were only German soldiers and officials harmed? Were all of those soldiers volunteers?

In the siege of Berlin, the Hitlerjugend were called into action. children, some as young as nine years old, were ordered to man anti-aircraft guns while their superiors scattered to safe bunkers. What happened to these kids? well, most of them were blown to smithereens by bombs. One moment there's a boy not even old enough for a single hair on his lip, next minute, a fine red paste splashed across a crater.

Is that just? of course it's not. But that's the sort of horror that happens in every single war. It's the nature of war. War is inherently unjust. The reason is simple. War is a conflict between governments, but the individuals in conflict are inevitably the people least-affected by the war. it's always two sides saying "let's you and him fight" and there are always people caught in the middle who suffer and perish.

Was fighting against the Nazis necessary? yeah, I'd say it was. We all know what they were doing and we can all imagine the outcome if they had been allowed to continue that path. But was it just is an entirely different question. That's my point. That "necessary' and "just" are different concepts, and that while a war can sometimes be the former, it can never be the latter.