ABSTRACT
No one assumes or even imagines that wars can be fought without wounds, wounds inflicted and wounds endured. Perhaps the least recognized or understood of war’s wounds is moral injury, a wound to the soul, a wound as invisible as the soul but no less profoundly devastating for that. To many, the possibility of moral injury in “just wars” is difficult to comprehend; and the first step towards such comprehension is to question the very possibility of “just war.” The hard core of Western Just War doctrine is the claim that war can be waged without moral violation and the destruction of character, an untenable claim refuted in every war ever waged. There is, however, a road out of this hell, a path out of impenetrable darkness. It may be as yet unmarked, unpaved, uphill, perilous, and uncertain, but it is there and trodden daily by veterans displaying a courage and commitment equal to or beyond any that was demanded of them in combat. This path begins with the refusal to justify war, the denial that war is inevitable, and the resolve to work daily for a world without war.
