Just War Theory
Felicia Melchor
Professor L. Strong
English 1302.23
16 October 2014
The Unjust Theory of The Iraq Invasion
The events of 9/11 sparked a new fire under the Bush administration in order to fight the war of terror. By 2003, The U.S. government had reset their sites on Iraq president, Saddam Hussein. On March 20, 2003, President Bush launched Operation Iraqi Freedom, and then later renamed Operation Red Dawn, and American and British troops fought their way into Iraq (Library). In “Summa Theologica,” Aquinas describes, “[t]hose who are attacked, should be attacked because they deserve it on account of some fault” (261). In this case, the United States government should have not declared war on Iraq, since it was not a justifiable war …show more content…
due to Iraq not being imminent threat, was complying with the United Nation about weapons of mass destruction, and the limited possibility of success of winning the war.
The invasion of Iraq was unjust due to the fact it was not in response to a direct attack or threat. In “What Is A Just War,” Estaing states, “A war must be a response to a specific instance of unjust aggression perpetrated against one’s own people or innocent third party or fought just cause” (303). The U.S. government felt Hussein could pose a threat in engaging war by launching biological or chemical weapons and possibly obtaining nuclear weapons (Kaufman 10). Prior to the war, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors found “that Iraq did not have an active nuclear weapons program” (Kaufman 29). In a March 2003 report, United Nations (UN)’s chief weapons inspector, Hans Blix, reported that no weapons of mass destruction (WMD) had been found in Iraq (Kaufman 42). Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld stated, “Some have argued that the nuclear threat from Iraq is not imminent-that Saddam is at least 5-7 years away from having nuclear weapons” (Kaufman 20). However, In “Just War Doctrine and the Invasion of Iraq,” Enemark and Michaelsen comment, there was a higher probability of deaths in a conventional invasion of Iraq while evidence has it that there was a low possibility that Iraq would pass on WMDs to terrorists who would launch a successful attack on US (561).
The invasion of Iraq was not a response to attack or threat, but it was not a last resort. Enemark and Michaelsen explain, “Even where the cause for war is just, recourse to violent action must only occur after every other way of achieving an aim has been exhausted or proven to be ineffective” (261). Iraq had been complying with UN weapons inspector officials since the passing of the resolution 1441 in November 2002 (Kaufman 16). Two weeks before the invasion, UN’s chief weapons inspector Hans Blix pleaded with the Security Council for “a few more months” to finish the mission and find a peaceful resolution with Iraq (Enemark and Michaelsen 561). Vice President Dick Chaney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld both stated that UN was “downplaying the chances for peaceful disarmament,” and they were more likely to fail (Rubin 1). However, US Government officials rejected some peaceful offerings made by Iraqi officials, including one made by the chief of Iraqi Intelligence Service. One offer included to hold monitored elections and allow FBI agents to look for WMDs in Iraq. They felt the offerings were to “unworthy to pursue” (Enemark and Michaelsen 561).
In “What Is A Just War,” Elshtain states, “Do not enter a conflict without reflecting on whether the cause has a reasonable chance of success” (303). The United States main purposes of invading Iraq was search and destroy WMDs but also give freedom to the Iraqi people; neither of these were accomplished. In “The Causes of US Failure in Iraq,” Dodge comments on President Bush admitting to the dire situation in Iraq, “that is bad and we need to change our strategy” (85). According to survey done by Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, Americans stated, that “the U.S. war in Iraq are virtually the same: 52% say the United States has mostly failed in reaching its goals there.”
In “What Is A Just War,” Elshtain states there are certain criteria to be considered just war: legitimate authority, just cause, right intentions, last resort and possibility of success (303).
The Bush administrations failed meet all the requirements of the Just War theory, in which would the Iraq War not justifiable. The United States had no legitimate reason for the invasion. Aquinas comments on Augustine, “A just war is wont to be described as one that avenges wrongs, when a nation or state has to be punished, for refusing to make amends for the wrongs inflicted by its subjects, or to restore what it has seized unjustly” (261). Despite having good intentions, the US government lacked just cause which is vital in when using force against nations. In addition, the United States lacked sufficient evidence to the support the claim that the nation faced imminent threat from Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction. In “Stumbling Into War | Foreign Affairs,” Rubin commented, that a French official acknowledged we would be dead already, if there was a significant amount of chemical or biological weapons were …show more content…
found,
The following events in the Iraq War discussed in this essay are just some of those that conflict with Jean Bethke Elshtain’s Just War Theory.
This was a clearly an unjust war from the beginning is now becoming more ambiguous. The US’s original plan was to capture the terrorist group responsible for the attacks on 9/11, not to invade Iraq. The Bush Administration had revenge on their mind despite Iraq’s willing cooperate with the United States in order to keep them from going to war.
Works Cited
Aquinas, St. Thomas. “Summa Theologica.” Reading The World: Ideas That Matter. 2nd ed. ED Michael Austin. New York: Norton, 2009. 261. Print.
Dodge, Toby. "The Causes Of US Failure In Iraq." Survival 49.1 (2007): 85. Academic Search Complete. Web. 19 Oct. 2014.
Elshtain, Jean B. “What Is A Just War.” Reading The World: Ideas That Matter. 2nd ed. ED Michael Austin. New York: Norton, 2009. 303.
Print.
Enemark, Christian, and Christopher Michaelsen. “Just War Doctrine And The Invasion Of Iraq”.Australian Journal of Politics & History 51.4 (2005): 561. Web. 19 Oct. 2014.
Kaufman, Chaim. “Threat Inflation and the Failure of the Marketplace of Ideas: The Selling of the Iraq War.” International Security. 29.1 (2004): 5-48. Web. 19 Oct. 2014.
Library, CNN. “Operation Iraqi Freedom And Operation New Dawn Fast Facts”. CNN. N.p., 2014. Web. 17 Oct. 2014.
Pew Research Center for the People and the Press,. “More Now See Failure Than Success In Iraq, Afghanistan”. N.p., 2014. Web. 19 Oct. 2014. Rubin, James. “Stumbling Into War | Foreign Affairs”. Foreignaffairs.com. N.p., 2014. Web. 19 Oct. 2014.
Professor L. Strong
English 1302.23
16 October 2014
The Unjust Theory of The Iraq Invasion
The events of 9/11 sparked a new fire under the Bush administration in order to fight the war of terror. By 2003, The U.S. government had reset their sites on Iraq president, Saddam Hussein. On March 20, 2003, President Bush launched Operation Iraqi Freedom, and then later renamed Operation Red Dawn, and American and British troops fought their way into Iraq (Library). In “Summa Theologica,” Aquinas describes, “[t]hose who are attacked, should be attacked because they deserve it on account of some fault” (261). In this case, the United States government should have not declared war on Iraq, since it was not a justifiable war …show more content…
due to Iraq not being imminent threat, was complying with the United Nation about weapons of mass destruction, and the limited possibility of success of winning the war.
The invasion of Iraq was unjust due to the fact it was not in response to a direct attack or threat. In “What Is A Just War,” Estaing states, “A war must be a response to a specific instance of unjust aggression perpetrated against one’s own people or innocent third party or fought just cause” (303). The U.S. government felt Hussein could pose a threat in engaging war by launching biological or chemical weapons and possibly obtaining nuclear weapons (Kaufman 10). Prior to the war, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors found “that Iraq did not have an active nuclear weapons program” (Kaufman 29). In a March 2003 report, United Nations (UN)’s chief weapons inspector, Hans Blix, reported that no weapons of mass destruction (WMD) had been found in Iraq (Kaufman 42). Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld stated, “Some have argued that the nuclear threat from Iraq is not imminent-that Saddam is at least 5-7 years away from having nuclear weapons” (Kaufman 20). However, In “Just War Doctrine and the Invasion of Iraq,” Enemark and Michaelsen comment, there was a higher probability of deaths in a conventional invasion of Iraq while evidence has it that there was a low possibility that Iraq would pass on WMDs to terrorists who would launch a successful attack on US (561).
The invasion of Iraq was not a response to attack or threat, but it was not a last resort. Enemark and Michaelsen explain, “Even where the cause for war is just, recourse to violent action must only occur after every other way of achieving an aim has been exhausted or proven to be ineffective” (261). Iraq had been complying with UN weapons inspector officials since the passing of the resolution 1441 in November 2002 (Kaufman 16). Two weeks before the invasion, UN’s chief weapons inspector Hans Blix pleaded with the Security Council for “a few more months” to finish the mission and find a peaceful resolution with Iraq (Enemark and Michaelsen 561). Vice President Dick Chaney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld both stated that UN was “downplaying the chances for peaceful disarmament,” and they were more likely to fail (Rubin 1). However, US Government officials rejected some peaceful offerings made by Iraqi officials, including one made by the chief of Iraqi Intelligence Service. One offer included to hold monitored elections and allow FBI agents to look for WMDs in Iraq. They felt the offerings were to “unworthy to pursue” (Enemark and Michaelsen 561).
In “What Is A Just War,” Elshtain states, “Do not enter a conflict without reflecting on whether the cause has a reasonable chance of success” (303). The United States main purposes of invading Iraq was search and destroy WMDs but also give freedom to the Iraqi people; neither of these were accomplished. In “The Causes of US Failure in Iraq,” Dodge comments on President Bush admitting to the dire situation in Iraq, “that is bad and we need to change our strategy” (85). According to survey done by Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, Americans stated, that “the U.S. war in Iraq are virtually the same: 52% say the United States has mostly failed in reaching its goals there.”
In “What Is A Just War,” Elshtain states there are certain criteria to be considered just war: legitimate authority, just cause, right intentions, last resort and possibility of success (303).
The Bush administrations failed meet all the requirements of the Just War theory, in which would the Iraq War not justifiable. The United States had no legitimate reason for the invasion. Aquinas comments on Augustine, “A just war is wont to be described as one that avenges wrongs, when a nation or state has to be punished, for refusing to make amends for the wrongs inflicted by its subjects, or to restore what it has seized unjustly” (261). Despite having good intentions, the US government lacked just cause which is vital in when using force against nations. In addition, the United States lacked sufficient evidence to the support the claim that the nation faced imminent threat from Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction. In “Stumbling Into War | Foreign Affairs,” Rubin commented, that a French official acknowledged we would be dead already, if there was a significant amount of chemical or biological weapons were …show more content…
found,
The following events in the Iraq War discussed in this essay are just some of those that conflict with Jean Bethke Elshtain’s Just War Theory.
This was a clearly an unjust war from the beginning is now becoming more ambiguous. The US’s original plan was to capture the terrorist group responsible for the attacks on 9/11, not to invade Iraq. The Bush Administration had revenge on their mind despite Iraq’s willing cooperate with the United States in order to keep them from going to war.
Works Cited
Aquinas, St. Thomas. “Summa Theologica.” Reading The World: Ideas That Matter. 2nd ed. ED Michael Austin. New York: Norton, 2009. 261. Print.
Dodge, Toby. "The Causes Of US Failure In Iraq." Survival 49.1 (2007): 85. Academic Search Complete. Web. 19 Oct. 2014.
Elshtain, Jean B. “What Is A Just War.” Reading The World: Ideas That Matter. 2nd ed. ED Michael Austin. New York: Norton, 2009. 303.
Print.
Enemark, Christian, and Christopher Michaelsen. “Just War Doctrine And The Invasion Of Iraq”.Australian Journal of Politics & History 51.4 (2005): 561. Web. 19 Oct. 2014.
Kaufman, Chaim. “Threat Inflation and the Failure of the Marketplace of Ideas: The Selling of the Iraq War.” International Security. 29.1 (2004): 5-48. Web. 19 Oct. 2014.
Library, CNN. “Operation Iraqi Freedom And Operation New Dawn Fast Facts”. CNN. N.p., 2014. Web. 17 Oct. 2014.
Pew Research Center for the People and the Press,. “More Now See Failure Than Success In Iraq, Afghanistan”. N.p., 2014. Web. 19 Oct. 2014. Rubin, James. “Stumbling Into War | Foreign Affairs”. Foreignaffairs.com. N.p., 2014. Web. 19 Oct. 2014.