Is war ever justified?

The idea that War and Peace are inseparable because they are opposites does not work. Humans have been trying for peace, but prepared for war for centuries and that thought pretty much has been disproved. The problem is some has a nice big army. The leader of that army is happy the populace is happy as they fell safe. After a while that leader starts to want more power, to make others do what he wants. The army born in peace for peace then gets used for war. The problem with using the army is to convince the public that the war is justified. Look at any war and this is what is done with armies. The big problem is it is much easier to release the dog of war than to put him back in his doghouse.

Two good illustrations of preparing for war to ensure peace are the following :
The Swiss, who are neutral, decided to have a strong army to deter anyone from attacking them. Every citizen has his gun and uniform at home. You can't imagine all the fortifications they've built all over the country. During WW2 Hitler was within an inch of invading Switzerland but he didn't dare doing it.
During the "cold war" the Western democracies had so many nuclear weapons that the Russians never attempted an attack on Western Europe for fear of devastating retaliations. The Soviet army was only 300km away from Strasbourg where I live.
None of the overarmed Western countries has turned into a dictatorship.

(A soldier can't be compared to a policeman. I've never seen soldiers fighting without guns, but there are policemen who ensure law and order without guns)

Not in America.

And not in France.

Really? All of the police carry guns there too?

Yes, they do. I think one of the few countries where the police doesn't carry guns is the UK.

Yes these are examples of being prepared to defend yourself. I think the cold war is a better example. The Swiss were neutral and no threat to Germany. There were no raw materials there and the Germans needed a banker. If Germany got control of Europe and Switzerland was the last one standing, do you think that Germany would have left it alone?

Taiwan and China is a similar example. Talk to a person form Taiwan and they will tell you a tale similar to the Swiss. So far it has worked, but there is still the potential for war. You cannot really say that there is a peace between China and Taiwan, as China does not recognize their sovereignty. For peace to occur there needs to be some sort of dialog. Not just a promise to inflict massive damage of the aggressor.

War is never justified. Unfortunately though it is a necessary evil that is encompassed in this world and forever shall remain. I say this because as a global society we will never see eye to eye on many things and this will lead to disputes and that eventually leads to war.

No.
That being said, I must acknowledge that it won't change anything. It's absurd. Tell young people to put on a scratchy uniform, give them a gun, and tell them to go beat the s*** out of someone other guy just like them that they've never met before.
There is no honor in war. There is no justice in killing. If you protect your country, on your own soil, then you are to be thanked. You are a hero. You shouldn't be glorified cuz you 'got those damn commies' or whatever.
The war in Iraq is not justifiable, under any set of beliefs.
Iraq as a country did not attack the U.S., and has only done as much wrong as other middle-eastern countries. We're not at war with those countries, though. We're nice to APEC. We need their oil.
I guess Bush or Congress or whatever was expecting us to claim some of the oil fields there in the process of our invasion, but that hasn't really worked out.
Basically, war is never justified, but it'll continue.
There's evolution for you. Survival of the 'fittist'. War sux.

One thing must be kept in mind. The area where war is no longer possible has increased from no place at all to Western Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand. I was about to add Japan but I'm not sure.

war is only good when it is a war of dj s..pj s..love everyone ..not just humans but animals too...

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

That is a very good point and lends to the idea that there is hope.

There's not actually hope. The area where war has become impossible will most probably increase towards Eastern Europe, Japan and South Korea once the North Korean problem has been solved, China once the Tibetan problem has been solved.
But in the rest of the world, tensions, due to overpopulation and its consequence desertification, will increase and wars will be permanent as they already are.