The President
I am in no way disposed to argue in some
timeless/placeless way the concepts of just war or the virtues of
turning the other cheek or the meaning of Matthew 10:34: “I have come
not to bring peace, but a sword,” or the essential good or evil of human
nature. Given the surround of President Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize
speech, his just war comments fit the surround he himself had recently
created. He is undertaking a surge of warfare in Afghanistan; it’s not
to be confused with Vietnam or Iraq, but Americans are familiar with the
word “surge.” And the surge in Iraq worked, at least on the level of
representation. We now hear and see more about Afghanistan than Iraq.
