So, we started a new war with Iran. A lot of people are saying we shouldn’t have done that, and it’s an illegal war and morally wrong. The U.S. can’t just attack a country for any reason. In fact, by basic morality, there are only seven legitimate reasons for war, and anything outside of those reasons is an illegal war.
So here are the legitimate reasons for war:
Legitimate Reasons for War
We were attacked. If a country attacks us, we can attack them back. That’s just basic tit for tat morality.
We think we’re going to be attacked. Of course, if we wait until we get attacked, Americans are going to get hurt. So, if we think a country is going to attack us, we can get ‘em first before any Americans are harmed.
Probably not going to attack us, but could. So maybe it doesn’t seem like a country is going to attack us, but maybe one day they could. Do we really want to wait until the day before they attack us to do something? We may not stop them in time. Better to do something years in advance.
Need oil. I mean, this is just basic. Not everyone drives a Tesla, so we still need oil. Could we just ask countries to give it to us? I guess, but in the Middle East, they speak Arabic or something, and maybe we don’t know that. So the simplest solution is to just roll in with tanks and take the oil.
There’s just something about a country we don’t like. A lot of countries out there simply suck, and we don’t like them. Does that mean we should have a war with them? Probably. I mean, we’re the greatest country ever ever, so why should we share this world with countries we don’t like? That’s not fair to us.
Bored. Being the greatest country ever can be monotonous at times, so sometimes we just need something to do. War will keep us entertained for a few days.
So those are the legitimate reasons for war. I guess it’s only six reasons. I really thought I had seven, but I was wrong. If you came here for seven reasons and are disappointed you only got six, I’m sorry.1
Anyway, going by those reasons for war, Iran covers a few of them, making it definitely a legitimate war. I don’t make the rules. Well, I guess I made these, but I don’t feel like changing them.
But it’s not a reason for war.
This is addressed by the Welsh martial art of Llap Goch (or Lap Goch): The fundamental principles of Lap Goch are well known. There are two:
That the best form of defence is attack
That the most important element in a successful attack is surprise
The Lap Goch practitioner is therefore taught to suprise his opponent by attacking him before he is himself attacked. Indeed, he will attack his opponent, not only before he is actually attacked, but before his opponent has even considered attacking him. Indeed, to be safe, he will launch attacks on a variety of people who have never even so much as thought about attacking him because they have never had any reason to.
7: the other country is Iran.