War can only be moral whether it ultimately aims at some greater peaceful purpose. Without this,not a single harmless death can be justifiedThe second world war lasted six years. The war on terrorism is now in its 15th year. And yet things are demonstrably no better. Why? Because we still have no vision of what peace might look like. For instead of trying to figure out what the politics of a relatively settled Middle East might be, and then working towards that, or we reflect first about dropping bombs from the sky – bombs that will inevitably ruin both Islamic State and its non-Isis neighbours,bombs that will inevitably recruit unusual forces of vengeance against the west. Carl von Clausewitz famously said that war is politics by another means. And that puts its finger on the problem: we don’t have the politics sorted out. We don’t really know what we want to achieve other than to hear the sound of bombs falling on Raqqa, thus satisfying the need to do something. We can’t win whether we don’t know what winning looks like.
War in time for Christmas is David Cameron’s draw. Yes, and exquisitely timed to coincide with the Christian message of peace and goodwill to all. Yes,a perfect accompaniment to all those half-forgotten carols: “And man, at war with man, or hears not,/ The love-song which they bring: O hush the noise, ye men of strife, or / And hear the angels sing. Translated into the prosaically secular: we have no vision of peace.
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Source: theguardian.com