But then, every war can be justified under atrocity as many nations commit them today.. barring the Scandinavians who only produce envious and peaceful lifestyles for us to see.
@Technogaianist
We many not start any (any more that is), but we Scandinavians do kick our fair share of behind too. With Nordic nations (Scandinavia is just Denmark, Sweden and Norway, but the Nordic nations include those three plus Finland, Iceland, Aland and the Faroe Islands) contributing assets to the War in Afghanistan, NATO operations in Iraq, such as the KTCC mission in Erbil:
Somalia hunting pirates, participating in NATO action in Libya (UN mandated I might add, so if international law is any justification, we had it) and likely with assets in Syria and problem areas in Africa. We don't start them ourselves, but we're more then ready to put our lives on the line to protect our interests, help our allies or further our aims.
In some cases we just went along for the ride, like in Afghanistan. Other times the UN gave us permission to act to save civilian populations from a crazed dictator, like in Libya. In Africa we're disarming militants bend of butchering one another, and who'll likely return to doing the same once we're gone (if the CAR is any indicator now that French troops are leaving). In some cases I do believe our actions to be justified. In others I'd rather we stayed out.
I believe just war goes beyond extreme examples like counteraction against Japan and Germany during WWII. The Cambodia-Vietnamese War removed the brutal Khmer Rouge from power, perpetrating crimes not seen since WWII.
In the Balkans in the 90s too, I believe these to be just wars. Once again we had civilian populations being slaughtered for belonging to the wrong nation, or religion, or race, or even town. To put a stop to the Bosnian Serbs and their ethnic cleaning campaign, even if I do believe the US and NATO went about these campaigns wrong (the UN especially, but also US Black Flights).
Norway was largely absent from wars in the region, though it took a premier role in prosecuting war criminals and apprehending them by contributing special police units to Special Team Six. It also contributed to peacekeeping missions afterwards, such as KFOR where both armed peacekeepers and mine clearance teams were sent in. F-16s too.
I whole heartedly support Norwegian and Nordic participation in the Balkans because I recognize why we were there. The horrors, the brutality, the suffering and our role in preventing further actions. I also support our joining the Afghan War in support of the US following the evoking of NATO Article 5, but unlike actions in the Balkans, I do not feel the war is just anymore. It's evolved too much, but I still support our soldiers who are now taking up the role of training Afghan Special Police units, rather then fighting the Taliban or other militant groups.
It is time for Afghanistan to fight its own just war against the horrors within.
So I feel wars can be just, especially if waged to stop mass atrocities against civilians, ethnic groups or religious practitioners. Wars of territorial expansion, wars of religion or resources or dogma, war for profit and wealth or just for fun. These are not just wars. These are common wars.
We Nordics are a largely peaceful people and don't cause problems on our own, but we're always willing to put our civility aside, pick up our axes once again and get to work.
Anyone who has worn a uniform will recall a comrade who fell, a team / crew member who did not return . Someone maimed for life & so much more.
I have seen the dead, held children with their head's split open like a rotting pumpkin. My team responded to the Utoya attacks in 2011 where 77 lost their lives and over 200 were injured. All with battlefield wounds.
I am a trained medic, trained in battlefield medicine (and I undergo recertification yearly), trained to respond to egregious injuries, and not just to our own (we'd rescue wounded hostiles too). Training scenarios get very realistic. Their designed to prepare you for the real thing. But I can tell you they're never real enough. Simulations like these only go so far:
But to see first hand? To experience what few in uniform ever do? I still don't like to talk about it. And it's funny. I've had families thank me, thank my team, even stop by to visit. It didn't make me feel proud, often just queasy because I'm left to remember again what I want to suppress.
No matter what we don't consider ourselves heroes. Hell, I consider myself unlucky. But we had a job to do and damn if we weren't going to do it to the best of our abilities.
And that's how service personal look at their time in uniform. Sometimes people do heroic things that capture the mind's of civilians or make for great movies or stories of valor to tell again and again. But for those of us that live these events? We're just doing the job we signed up to do (or were asked to).
We're heroes to someone and we always try to make a difference and serve our countries. But do we consider ourselves heroes? Or our fallen brothers and sisters? To answer those questions I leave you to sign up, serve and find out for yourselves.
...
It's a minor side note, but I thought I'd explain anyway.
For those that aren't aware of it, and because a Google search doesn't turn up much, Special Team Six was form from international contributions to track down and apprehend fugitive war criminals in the Balkans. Norway's Emergency Response Unit - Beredskapstroppen - contributed men.
Very little is publically known about STS (not to be confused with SEAL Team 6, as Google often does).
. Yes, the Balkans. But we've forces in the Baltics too.
.
