War and the Path of Peace
Rev. Fr. Ranhilio C. Aquino
CNN and BBC both carried reports that after several contrapuntal overtures, the US and Russia had struck a deal on the Syrian crisis. There is now no doubt that the Assad Government of Syria did use chemical weapons. Even Russia, known to be friendly to the Syrian government, has admitted as much in agreeing with the US on a timetable for disclosure, inspection, and destruction of chemical weapons and the means of their manufacture. The question is legal—and the irony should not be lost to us that war, the depth that lawlessness can take man and nation into, is nevertheless hemmed in by law. So it is that while the planning and prosecution of war used to be the preserve of military strategists, that team must now include lawyers and legal scholars who must advise governments and commanders on the legality or criminality of planned courses of action. So, what exactly, is the law on chemical weapons?
Rev. Fr. Ranhilio C. Aquino
CNN and BBC both carried reports that after several contrapuntal overtures, the US and Russia had struck a deal on the Syrian crisis. There is now no doubt that the Assad Government of Syria did use chemical weapons. Even Russia, known to be friendly to the Syrian government, has admitted as much in agreeing with the US on a timetable for disclosure, inspection, and destruction of chemical weapons and the means of their manufacture. The question is legal—and the irony should not be lost to us that war, the depth that lawlessness can take man and nation into, is nevertheless hemmed in by law. So it is that while the planning and prosecution of war used to be the preserve of military strategists, that team must now include lawyers and legal scholars who must advise governments and commanders on the legality or criminality of planned courses of action. So, what exactly, is the law on chemical weapons?