Just War Theory and Self Defense
It's difficult to reconcile the recent complaints about our interrogation techniques that were used on incarcerated terrorists at a Guantanamo Bay prison with the evil displayed in the recent attack on a Pakistani school by members of the same terrorist organization, especially when we know that this same kind of attack on a school full of children has occurred before, on September 1, 2004.
In the latter days of WW-II, General George Patton had been receiving complaints about the duration of the war; people were getting depressed with the apparently endless fighting, and wanted to see the war ended.
On June 5, 1944, while addressing his troops who were about to participate in Operation Overlord, Patton commented on the complaints that he had received.
“Sure, we want to go home. We want this war over with. The quickest way to get it over with is to go get the bastards who started it. The quicker they are whipped, the quicker we can go home. The shortest way home is through Berlin and Tokyo. And when we get to Berlin, I am personally going to shoot that paper hanging son-of-a-bitch Hitler. Just like I’d shoot a snake!” — General George Patton
One of the benefits of having every law-abiding citizen armed and trained is the potential capacity of a citizen dealing with evil in a timely, and effective, manner — "just like I'd shoot a snake."
There are no "Marquess of Queensberry Rules" when it comes to fighting evil — as pointed out by Albert Mohler in his Daily Briefing today.
/fl