(David) I think that your progression of thought on the demise of shalom is solid. The good does become perverse because we become fattened up with the rich spoil of our plunder in war. We say “look, I am well fed! See, the perversion wasn’t so bad.” Or “If it wasn’t for this perversion you wouldn’t even be here, or have the freedom to enjoy your spoil” The benefits of going to war almost always seem to be ad-hominem, or after the fact. The so-called justifications of War are at most, credulous, and must be therefore strengthened, not in rational arguments but in subliminal propaganda. (See my post on propaganda and its relation to War and terrorism) Eventually, after the war has been fought the justifications become amusingly clearer. The evolution of the structure of the beaten up society well, evolves, and then we pick a good story and say, “look, if we hadn’t have gone to war, Women would not have been liberated in Afghanistan”. Like America would ever fight a war to liberate women. (maybe with Hilary in Office) They are not justifications for war; they are war consequences (I do not mean consequence in a bad way). They arise out of the ashes of war, and when the dust settles warring countries are able to examine them. If the ashes make a rather beautiful shape, they say look, were we not justified.