Wednesday, July 12, 2006

What is a just war?

Gaurav Sabnis posts on the blasts and on terrorism in general. He raises a rhetorical question, and answers it

Fact remains, that one man's terrorist is another man's hero. Who is to say who is right?

Of all the cliches I have heard in my life, this one probably irritates me the most. A terrorist is a man who knowingly kills innocent people. Innocent, unsuspecting people going about their lives peacefully.Such a man can not be thought of as a hero in any civilised society. Which is why even in Pakistan, they try their best to pretend that the attacks had nothing to do with them. They claim that the terror attacks have been carried out by someone else. In Pakistan, they consider soldiers who fought in wars as heroes. They think of the guys who attacked Kargil as heroes.

I like the point, but it so happens that Jane Galt started a firestorm of comments over at Asymmetrical Information by raising the question of a Jus Bello. (Nothing to do with the blasts in Mumbai. I find it curious that none of the western bloggers I read have bothered to notice the blasts).
Some of the comments are intelligent and relevant to the topic- some others not. Thats all.

No comments: