I S WAR ON T ERROR A J UST WAR ?
Saad Khalid
PLS 101

W HAT IS A J UST W AR ?

What is the meaning of a Just War?

A doctrine that specifies restrictions to a State that wants to go to war to have good enough reasons, which are essentially defensive, and or to set free of an another state from an antagonist or a dictator.

W HAT IS THE A RGUMENT ?

The doctrine states that a nation should abide by the following criteria if it is considering war; the
“just” cause, legitimate authority, right intentions, probability of success, last resort and proportionality. The main questions here are that, is the war on terror a “just” war?

W HAT DO THE SCHOLARS SAY ?





Scholar who says it is a just war- Jean Elshtain says it is a Just War because…
She believes that its the United States’ job to protect its people and maintain harmony.
We had the right intention to go in and try to emerge a strong democracy in Iraq to help their people live a more secured life.
Our Just Cause was to defend our soil after being attacked on 9/11
Our authority was legitimate because Bush held the executive presidential seat when entered the war.

S CHOLAR WHO SAY ITS NOT A JUST WAR .

Michael Walzer argues-
It cannot be a Just War because…
- There was no probability of success because they don’t have a well established government yet.
-There was no exit strategy, as we are still struggling to end the war.
-Enormous number of casualties. Over 100,000
-Torturing innocent people at Abu Gharib is against the Jus ad bello
-Proportionality is a factor. US is a nation-state and Al Qaeda/Taliban are miniature groups.

C ONCLUSION





I believe that war on terror is not a just war because… I agree with Jean Elshtair
We had a “just” cause when we were attacked on
9/11 to defend ourselves
We had the right intention to go in and try to emerge a strong democracy in Iraq to help their people live a more secured life.
Our authority was legitimate because Bush held the executive presidential seat when entered the war.
We had to go in and take-out Saddam Hussein who was oppressing his people for decades.