By Phil Lawler, Catholic Culture - Before war fever , could we please stop and ask a few elementary questions? What are we doing in Iran? Why? Is an American offensive morally justifiable?... Rather than pretend to know the details of the military situation—about which the available information is cloudy, contradictory, and very clearly coming from partisan sources—I propose to explore these questions in the light of just-war theory... Just-war theory is remarkably sophisticated and nuanced. Serious thinkers have reflected on these issues for centuries, and produced a detailed moral analysis based on natural law.