Jorge,

I've been meaning to reply to your piece, but I wanted to take time to think it over first. So, here goes. You write:

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3) Tom refers to war as a "necessary evil". He provides the following definitions:
"Necessary - 1. Such as must be; impossible to be otherwise; not to be avoided; inevitable." -- Wesbster's 1913 ed.

"Evil - 1. Having qualities tending to injury and mischief; having a nature or properties which tend to badness; mischievous; not good; worthless or deleterious; poor; as, an evil beast; and evil plant; an evil crop." -- op.cit.

Yet looking at this and the attributes of war, one sees that war is never necessary.

Let us imagine a situation where a community is attacked (or attack is threatened) by an outside agency, such as a foreign government.
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As defined, "necessary" includes "inevitable" (i.e. "necessary" does not, um, necessarily include a volitional decision on the part of all parties).

So, let's take your example: a community is attacked. Guess what: There's a war on. The people of that may choose not to fight it, but that doesn't mean that the war isn't happening. In their case, the war is "necessary" because it is going to occur no matter what they do, i.e. it is inevitable. They don't get to decide whether there's a war or not. Their declared enemy already decided that for them. They just get to decide if they will fight or not, and if so, how. The fact that they might choose not to do so through taxation, the killing of innocents, or the forced waiver of damage claims doesn't mean it's not a war.

As a matter of fact, al Qaeda declared war on the US in 1992 (and Osama bin Laden later publicly and specifically stated that he considers all Americans targets of that war). At the point when he declared that war (and especially after that point, when his organization took belligerent action pursuant to it), those upon whom he declared war were in one. And we still are. Our choice is not whether or not to be in a war. Osama bin Laden decided that for us. Our choice is whether to fight it/win it and if so, how.

I don't regard the fact of the war as a free pass to tax those who happen to be part of one side (as defined by the other), or to kill innocents, or to claim immunity for damages caused (nor do I regard the state as my authorized agent for the conduct of the war). I also regard the Iraq invasion as a tactical disaster and a strategic fuckup of the first order, especially as conducted by my unauthorized, self-appointed agents. But I don't deny the fact -- or the "necessity," correctly defined -- of the war.

Regards,
Tom