A war with Iraq would violate just-war standards and international law, a letter from the United States Jesuit Provincials to President Bush said.

Last month, the provincials sent the letter expressing their “strong moral reservations about the use of military force in Iraq.”

The Jesuit Provincials are the superiors of the Jesuit order in the United States and speak on behalf of the entire order.

The letter expressed their “concern about Iraq’s possible possession and use of weapons of mass destruction,” and said they did not believe all actions to avoid war have already been taken.

The letter claimed that a war would be a preventative one, a violation of just-war standards and international law.

Political science professor Conrad Raabe agreed that at the time the letter was written, the statement was probably accurate.

But with last Friday’s U.N. Security Council vote, it is no longer accurate, he said.

Raabe referred to Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations. Article 39 gives the Security Council the right to determine any “threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression” and decide what must be done in order to “restore international peace and security.”

Raabe said that the “U.N. resolution mitigates the argument that an attack would be illegitimate.”

The Rev. Eddie Gros, S.J., Interim Dean of University Ministry, disagreed, saying that the letter shows “how four important conditions of traditional Catholic Teaching on exactly what constitutes a ‘just war’ are not present.”

The Jesuits quoted a letter from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops that said that the war on terrorism cannot be extended to Iraq, because there is no clear evidence of Iraqi involvement in the terrorist attacks on the United States.

The Rev. Leo Nicoll, S.J., history professor, agreed, saying that while the government says there is evidence to link Iraq to the terrorist attacks, it will not release that evidence to the American people.

The president simply wants Americans to believe him. Nicoll argued that in a democracy, the president has a responsibility to give citizens reasons why they should believe in the government.

Gros said that he agrees with the provincials and that he thinks “there is a lack of adequate evidence of a direct connection between Iraq and the attack of Sept. 11, as well as a lack of clear and adequate evidence of an imminent attack on the United States of a grave nature.”

Gros said that the letter shows real courage on behalf of the provincials, as “they call our nation to moral accountability at a time when the drums of war are drowning out many softer voices of peace.” Nicoll concurred, saying the letter echoes “the sentiments of most of the Jesuits in the country.”

Raabe said he saw it as a moral statement issued by an order that has always had a strong commitment to peace.

It is a “reminder to think about behavior and make sure what you do is prudent. Imprudent actions lead to disaster,” he said.