Matthew-Donald Toombs
C & D Block
12-5-12
Vietnam, Just or Unjust?

Some ask the question, was the Vietnam War just? Some may say yes it was just,and others say that it is unjust. However,Certain people view justice as slippery concept. There are always ways to get aroud justice, and that is why people believe that justice is a slippety concept. Even Plato one of the brightest of his time could not figure out whether war was just or unjust. A Certain individual, by the name of Aquinas, also attempted to elaborate his view on the war through the document Summa Theologica. His reasons consisted of, First, the authority of the sovereign by whose command the war is to be waged(Article 1). The second reason being, a just cause is
This certain experpt from Deuteronomy, states that you should always follow just rule. Summa Theologica, the document written by Aquinas, states that laying abushes can decieve a man in two ways. First, through being told something false, or through the breaking of a promise, and this is always unlawful(Article 3). Sadly, this still occurs in modern day life. People are constantly telling people false statements. The common misconception in this war was that people lied and told them that they were on their side when I reality they were still with the other side. This is a way that laying ambushes is just. Secondly, a man may be deceived by what we say or do, because we do not declare our purpose or meaning to him(Article 3). Here what Aquinas attempts to get across is the fact that words can be deceiving, and you should always ask people what the purpose of this assignment is, because you never know who is lying and who is not. All in all, ultimately, it is just to lay ambush in war, because it messes with the enemies head. After careful analysis of both the Book Achilles in Vietnam by Jonathan Shay,and the document Summa Theologica by Sir Thomas Aquinas, one can conlcude that there are far more reason that war can be just rather than unjust. The indepth analysis of these documents really demonstrates overall how the war should have been fought. In my opinion I view that the war was clearly just because they had clear intentions of