Dulce bellum inexpertis

For the last 20 or so years of his life, when he was 16th-century Europe’s most renowned scholar, Erasmus consistently spoke out against all wars. At a time when kings, emperors and even Popes embarked on a bewildering number of “just” wars against which contemporary ecclesiastical and academic institutions would seldom protest, Erasmus challenged his readers with graphic descriptions of war’s horrors, asking them: Who does not think his own war just? Unlike most of those who held power in his world, Erasmus rejected the pursuit of power and the exaltation of valor. He had seen the consequences of war close up and could not forget them. Erasmus’ pacifism was unrealistic in some ways, but it did rest more firmly on experience than did the militarism of many of his world’s political, religious and academic leaders.

In our own day as in Erasmus’, those who never wage war can easily see it as an acceptable and even appealing way to deal with political and economic problems, even when other means are available. And as our country’s financial and political elites become increasingly estranged from the men and the women in our armed forces, war risks becoming a political and economic tool waged without thought for its cost on the armed forces themselves — to say nothing of the violence these forces are ordered to mete out to other human beings.

All of us support the military with our taxes. All of us are protected by the military. And all of us are implicated in its actions, for good and for ill. Today these actions range from the longest war of the United States’ history in Afghanistan to military engagements elsewhere that are often no less dangerous and costly and that are as legion as they are unknown to most of us. Nonetheless, few Princetonians devote much time to learning about the military, its accomplishments and its problems. Fewer still choose to serve.

“Support the Troops Week” begins today. All Princetonians are invited to attend a range of programs about the American military and to learn more about the accomplishments of American military men and women and about the problems they face. This week’s events include Tuesday’s panel of military personnel, Wednesday’s faculty panel, titled “Understanding Today’s Military,” Thursday’s letter-writing campaign, Friday’s care-package drive and two showings of “Restrepo,” a documentary on the ongoing Afghan conflict.

Good intentions are not good enough to make the world a better place, especially when unchecked by prudence and discernment. In our world there will always be a need for lawful violence to defend the weak and to check greater evils. Likewise, there will always be those trying to get what they want by dint of violence or by channeling the organs of lawful violence towards their own ends. Our state, like other states, will resort at times to the use of force. But even when force is used to counter force, soldiers will be endangered and innocent people will suffer and die.

For even with the most thorough efforts to keep the innocent out of harm’s way, their suffering and death, along with the military’s own losses, will always be the price of using military force to achieve any objective. What is more, in some circumstances, even the application of overwhelming force to attain a goal that seems plausible can prove counter-productive. Talk of “surgical interventions ,” on the other hand, is as short-sighted as it is unrealistic. To use our military strength effectively and justly, we need prudent, discerning soldiers, public servants and citizens. Great universities such as Princeton have a duty to supply all of these.

For those students considering military service, this week’s events will help to give a better idea of what military service truly entails. For all students and faculty, and especially those involved in or looking forward to careers in public service, this week represents a chance to learn more about our military and its members.

As we debate war and peace in safety, we owe it to ourselves and to our country to learn more about the troops we send to war and about what happens to them both when they get there and when — if — they come back home. “Support the Troops Week” is above all a chance to learn.

Nicholas Naquin is a doctoral student at Princeton University’s history department. He has served in the Afghan conflict with the Foreign Legion’s Second Infantry Regiment and is now honored to be a cadet in Princeton’s Army ROTC Tiger Battalion. Anthony Grafton teaches European history at Princeton. He will take part in Wednesday’s faculty forum.