The Smell of Napalm in the Morning

Abstract

The third problem that victory poses for just war theorists arises from the view that it is a part of the strategic rather than normative vocabulary of war. To the degree that victory is a function of might rather than right, the argument goes, just war theorists have no business engaging it. This chapter examines this contention. It reveals that the idea that victory is an amoral category is out of step with how victory has been conceived down the centuries. From classical times to the present day, victory has always been regarded as a concept that is freighted with ethical and even divine overtones. My purpose in highlighting this is to draw attention to what it reveals about the idea of just war: namely, how it is prone to seed a dangerous combination of complacency and self-righteousness in those who invoke it.