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Current events have brought the concept of “proportionality in war” to the lips of journalists and analysts. Often they seem not to know what it has meant. In “just war theory,” the requirement for “proportionate means” is not a synonym for “equivalent damage or casualties.” It simply means using means proportionate to the just end you are seeking.
If an aggressor fires on you, stopping the aggression may require military means that inflict significantly more casualties than those you sustain.
I can do no better than quoting the same 20th century ethicist, Paul Ramsey, quoted by Keith Pavlischek at