Avant-propos - Studia Moralia

THE WAR ON TERRORISM: A JUSTWAR? 53
the light of the evidence which has been presented here, a definitive
rejection of the doctrine is not required of one who is committed
to the Catholic tradition. It is, as the moral theologians of
the past would have said, a “probable” position, that is to say,
there are reasonable grounds for accepting it as a norm for practice.
As was indicated previously, a particularly contentious element
of the JWD is the rule of proportionality; this can best be
dealt with in relation to the question of the immunity of the
innocent in war. St. Augustine does not deal with the question
explicitly. He urged the Roman general Boniface, “And so, even
in the act of waging war be careful to maintain a peaceful disposition
so that by defeating your foes you can bring them to the
benefits of peace… And so, let it be because of necessity rather
than your own desire that you kill the enemy fighting against
you.” 51 It was not sufficient that Augustine’s Christian warrior
preserve an interior disposition and then simply engage in whatever
degree of violence was judged to be necessary. The action
needed to be tempered by the aim of bringing the adversaries to
peace, which could, presumably, not be done by slaughtering the
innocent wholesale. There is, at least, an intimation that the
virtues, and in particular charity, would set limits to the employment
of justified force.
Nor does St. Thomas raise the matter, although an argument
for the immunity of the innocent can be constructed from his
texts. The clear assertion of the prohibition to kill the innocent,
specified as noncombatants, is now accepted as a constitutive
element of the tradition, but it came to be acknowledged as such
through a lengthy and complex process. 52 We must read St.
Thomas brief articles on war in the context of his theologicalmoral
vision; the people to whom he is providing moral guidance
are the same ones whom he has sought to make aware of
51 Letter 189.6 (CSEL 57.135). Translation from Swift, Early Fathers,
114. Cf. JOHN LANGAN, S.J. “The Elements of St. Augustine’s Just War Theory,”
The Journal of Religious Ethics 12 (1984) 30.
52 B. JOHNSTONE, “Noncombatant Immunity: The Origins of the Principle
in Theology and Law,” Studia Moralia 24/1 (1986) 120.