Are Pre-Emptive Strikes Morally Permissible?

Some claim not, but both the law and ethics of self-defense say they can be.

The tweet bugged me. A prominent Catholic magazine editor claimed that, “If you are Catholic, you can’t morally justify ‘preemptive’ strikes,” presumably due to current international law.

He was referring, of course, to Israel’s then-recent attack on Iranian nuclear research facilities and researchers.

It stopped me.

My first reaction was, Huh? So I …