Would I Fight in Ukraine?

Photo by Kevin Schmid on Unsplash

Whenever I hear about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, I keep thinking of the opening line of the Leonard Cohen song The Partisan: “When they poured across the border, I was cautioned to surrender, this I could not do.”

The song makes me wonder how I would react if I was a Ukrainian and if my country had been invaded by the Russian army.

Obviously, I’d want to evacuate my family from the country. But after that, I’d face a stark choice.

On the one hand, I am a priest, I believe in the care of souls, so I could serve as a military chaplain, provide moral support, spiritual guidance, be a shoulder to cry on, bury the dead, mourn with those who mourn, and I could also warn the soldiers not to do in war what you cannot live with in peace.

On the other hand, I’m also a former soldier, I was a paratrooper, and military intelligence operator. I joined the regular Army in 1992, transferred to the reserves in 1999, and then resigned in 2005. I missed out on deployments in East Timor, Afghanistan, and Iraq. A couple of the leaders I worked for as an intelligence operator now are prominent in Australian politics and national security debates.

So, if I was Ukrainian what would I do? Help refugees flee and pastor a congregation of those left behind? Become a chaplain to soldiers? Return to soldiering?

To be honest, I think I’d lay aside my holy orders - can’t believe I’m saying that - and return to soldiering.

Let me explain why.

First, the world is now divided between alliances of freedom and despots of autocracy. If we do not take a stand against the autocratic regimes in Russia, China, Iran, Venezuela, and elsewhere, they will never stop. I know liberal democracies are not perfect, but they are sure as hell better than the alternatives of communism, caliphate, or kleptocracy. We must use economics and diplomacy to keep the powers of autocracy at bay and, if it comes down to it, fight for our own freedoms.

Second, chaplains are relatively easy to find and recruit. However, finding someone trained in infantry tactics and knows how to operate an intelligence section of a military headquarters is rarer. I was good at my job and I could do it well. I’m now 48 years old, too old to command a section or a platoon of soldiers, but I could help work in an intelligence department of a military command.

I believe that a priest should in principle never do violence nor take up a weapon in combat. Which is why I would lay aside holy orders, with intense grief and lament, so that for a time I could defend my homeland. I would go to fight so that my children would never have to.

Which goes to show that I’m not a pacifist. I have friends who are pacifists, like Scot McKnight and Preston Sprinkle. But I am not.

I believe the Australian deployment to East Timor was legitimate, it was sanctioned by the United Nations, even permitted by Indonesia, it ended the civil war in Timor, and was conducted in a fairly and equitable way.

The Afghanistan war initially had a good aim, to destroy Al Qaeda and remove the Taliban from power in order to prevent further terrorist actions. However, it then degenerated into an extended occupation and unwinnable war to turn Afghanistan into a central Asian liberal democracy that was never going to work.

The Gulf War of the early 90s was legitimate to liberate Kuwait and to prevent Saddam Hussein from invading Saudi Arabia. It succeeded and it showed that America could win with a coalition of allies. But the Iraq War of the 00s was illegitimate, it unleashed dormant sectarian violence, resulted in the creation of ISIS, it led to genocide against Christians and Yazidis, and it resulted in even greater Iranian influence in Iraq.

I guess I believe in “Just War Theory” because it is the least worst option.