Can War Be Justified?

Can war be justified?

Since September 11th, American news has been filled with stories and photographs of violent war. We were attacked mercilessly on our on soil, so most would say that the war on Afghanistan and Iraq are justified. But looking further into the matter, what are we really accomplishing with war? Are we proving that they shouldn't bother us anymore? Or are we just getting revenge? Neither are justifications for war. We should in the first place keep the best relations possible with other countries. Revenge; what does that do for what has already happened? It won't bring back the lives lost, and ultimently war will lead to the death of thousands of more innocent bystanders. Americans may believe that by going to war, we are preventing more attacks. While this may put on hiatus more acts of violence in our country, we are only fuelling the fire. We are stooping to their level, but saying that we are justified in our acts of violence. No one can justify dropping bombs that will kill innocent people, shooting a solider of another country, or using any kind of violence to solve their problems. As we can see from the situation in the middle east, war doesn't solve any problem at the rate or effect it should. War can never be justified and should never be invoked because no matter what you will end up killing innocent people, destroy relationships with other countries, and become our own enemy, in a sense.

In war, we intend to kill enemy troops, to get to dangerous leaders and avenge our own loss. Yet, you cannot have a violent, successful war without killing innocent people. If we are going to war to avenge the killing of our own citizens, think of what we are doing to them. We are going off and killing their innocent people, causing them the same pain we felt. Think back to September 11th, we were caught off guard and suddenly thousands of families were destroyed. Their fathers, mothers, husbands, wives and friends lives were taken for no good reason. So what do we do? Get together all our weapons and go attack a whole country. Drop bombs that kill everyday people in Afghanistan and Iraq. Imagine a little girl in Afghanistan learning that her mother or father has been killed by American troops. This isn't being unpatriotic, its thinking about what we are doing. We are taught to live by the golden rule, to treat others as we wish to be treated. While this saying may seem elementary and too simple for a situation like this, its not. We are treating them with violence and anger, and they are going to keep giving it back until one of us is out of power.

When someone attacks an opposing country, they destroy any trust that was in the relationship to being with. After September 11th, Americans no longer overlooked the middle east as a region halfway across the world. Then suddenly after the attacks, all our attention and energy shifted into avenging our lost Americans, and some turned to total hatred toward all middle easterners. War, instead of rehabilitating the relationship between two countires, and sometimes more, deepens the wounds made. Would it not be smarter