'DISCUSS THE WAR ON IRAQ AT A BALANCED VIEW' - Could this essay possibly fit into a category like WAR AND ETHICS?

Essay by nymphomaniacHigh School, 10th gradeA-, February 2004

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Conflict's - War on Iraq at a balanced view

Just War Theory

After a few attempts of outlining the rules of a "Just War" Thomas Aquinas finally presented his version and it seemed the most acceptable.

You have a just cause, said Aquinas, when you are defending yourself. You have to have right authority (be a government), you need to have a right intention (not just love violence), you need to have a good outcome (more good should result than the evil of violence), you need to be proportional (not use more force than necessary), you need to have a reasonable hope for success (peace should result), and it must be the very last resort (all diplomacy must be exhausted).

War on Iraq is hard to justify. There are those who believe that Bush did not follow the Just War Theory when he declared war on Iraq. Yet there are also those who believe that Bush made the right decision and did, more or less, consider the Just War Theory.

Did Bush oppose the Just War Theory?

Susan B. Thistlethwaite wrote a report in November 2002 stating that in her opinion, president Bush went COMPLETELY against the Just War Theory, 'it is Americans who have become the

Barbarians' she mentions in her report.

The first rule of the Just War Theory in most sources is to have a just cause, which is the right to defend yourself. Though it could also be comprehended as having a "good" reason for going to war. If the just cause means self defense, then in some peoples opinion, president Bush was only defending himself from a pre-emptive attack. He believed that Iraq held weapons of mass destruction (WMD) though he has been yet unable to come up with any "strong" evidence...