War and Legitimate Defense

War is an immoral act and a sin against the fifth commandment. War and also terrorism have been condemned by the Church's magisterium throughout all the Catholic Social Teaching. For example, the Catechism 2308 states, "All citizens and governments are obliged to work for the avoidance of war." There may also be times when we are forced to defend yourself.Divine Law does not forbid the use of legitimate defense either. Only if we have no alternative and have to kill or be killed is it permissible to kill in self-defense or in the defense of other innocent people. Legitimate defense can be not only a right but a grave duty for one who is responsible for the lives of others. For this reason the Church affirms those who serve in the military to protect the lives of innocents.

I chose the article of the U.S. troops who were held in prisons in Iran. This article reflects the spiral of violence. The prisoner exchange between the U.S. and Iran capped 14 months of secret diplomacy and talks between Washington and Tehran as the U.S. and world powers negotiated the pact to curb Iran’s nuclear program. The U.S. government confirmed Saturday that Iran freed four Americans as part of a prisoner swap for which the U.S. is dropping charges against seven Iranians who had been convicted in the U.S. for sanctions violations, the officials said.

The tendency of violent acts, in the Middle East, to escalate in seriousness is known as the spiral of violence. This spiral has led to the imprisonment of U.S. troops. To stop the spiral of violence, God calls us in waging peace. It's our commitment to respond to hatred and violence with love. As Luke (6:27-28) said, "But to you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you." In Iran when they took the U.S. troops prisoners they were committing violence resistance. There's no way this conflict is going to end if each side keeps escalating their violent acts. To truly stop the spiral of violence, we must seek to transform our relationship with our “enemy” into a relationship of love—even if we are the only ones doing the loving.

This has been maybe one of the most important event in this conflict. I believe that it shows that each side doesn't have to shoot each other up to get what they want. Both sides sat down and in a nonviolent way discussed what to do about the situation and how to resolve it in a diplomatic way. If the U.S. had developed a secret plan to free the troops without the terrorists knowing would've led to disaster. The terrorists would've found out about the snatch and grab and they would be angry. Which would lead to the spiral of violence, they would take their anger out with bombs and more violence and the U.S. would respond with drones or maybe more troops. This diplomatic solution has saved some lives and it has helped to calm the conflict.

War is never an appropriate way to