Preemption and Just War: Considering the Case of Iraq

Preemption and Just War: Considering the Case of Iraq PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 21

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Book Description
This article demonstrates that the use of military force by the Bush Administration against the regime of Saddam Hussein does not meet the ethical criteria for "preemptive war" set forth in the classical Just War tradition. It considers ethical questions raised by the U.S.-led attack against Iraq as part of the war against global terrorism and argues that the doctrine of preemptive war as applied in the case of Iraq fails crucial ethical tests. Could Operation Iraqi Freedom and the global war on terrorism be as pivotal in the history of ethical decision making as the emergence of the nation state in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648? Do new ethics for the war on terror sever the 4th-century Augustinian roots of Just War theory and the ties to Thomas Aquinas's "Summa Theologica" 700 years later? Could the first major war of the 21st century inaugurate a revolution in ethical decision making about warfare, justifying a new set of criteria for preemption or preventive war? Answers to these questions hinge on whether or not the doctrine of preemption matures into new ethical criteria. Such criteria would build not on foundations for constraining unavoidable human violence, but stretch toward a vision of an ideal of liberty that justifies the selective killing of some to achieve a greater good of liberty for many others. This emerging ethic installs the United States as the guardian of a universal, even transcendent, cause of freedom and the ultimate arbiter in that cause. This article applies the classic categories of Just War tradition to the doctrine of preemption as advanced by the current Administration in the justification for Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Preemption and Just War: Considering the Case of Iraq

Preemption and Just War: Considering the Case of Iraq PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 21

Get Book Here

Book Description
This article demonstrates that the use of military force by the Bush Administration against the regime of Saddam Hussein does not meet the ethical criteria for "preemptive war" set forth in the classical Just War tradition. It considers ethical questions raised by the U.S.-led attack against Iraq as part of the war against global terrorism and argues that the doctrine of preemptive war as applied in the case of Iraq fails crucial ethical tests. Could Operation Iraqi Freedom and the global war on terrorism be as pivotal in the history of ethical decision making as the emergence of the nation state in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648? Do new ethics for the war on terror sever the 4th-century Augustinian roots of Just War theory and the ties to Thomas Aquinas's "Summa Theologica" 700 years later? Could the first major war of the 21st century inaugurate a revolution in ethical decision making about warfare, justifying a new set of criteria for preemption or preventive war? Answers to these questions hinge on whether or not the doctrine of preemption matures into new ethical criteria. Such criteria would build not on foundations for constraining unavoidable human violence, but stretch toward a vision of an ideal of liberty that justifies the selective killing of some to achieve a greater good of liberty for many others. This emerging ethic installs the United States as the guardian of a universal, even transcendent, cause of freedom and the ultimate arbiter in that cause. This article applies the classic categories of Just War tradition to the doctrine of preemption as advanced by the current Administration in the justification for Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The Choice of War

The Choice of War PDF Author: Albert L. Weeks
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 305

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Book Description
A longtime scholar of the Cold War deftly weaves together the tradition of "just war" and an examination of current events to show how the time-honored concepts of jus ad bellum (justice of war) and jus in bello (justice in war) apply to the U.S. military involvement in Iraq. This timely analysis of President George W. Bush's foreign policy deals with the cornerstone of his administrations—the "war on terror"—as implemented in Afghanistan, Iraq, Guantanamo Bay, and at Abu Ghraib prison. The Choice of War: The Iraq War and the "Just War" Tradition discusses NSS 2002, the national security statement that became the blueprint for the Bush Doctrine. It explains the differences and similarities between preventive and pre-emptive war and explores the administration's justification of the necessity of the March 2003 invasion. Finally, it analyzes the conduct of the war, the occupation, and the post-occupation phases of the conflict. In evaluating the Bush Doctrine, both as declared strategy and as implemented, Albert L. Weeks asks whether going it virtually alone in the global struggle against 21st-century terrorism should be incorporated permanently into American political and military policy. Answering no, he suggests an alternative to a doctrine that has isolated the United States and left the world divided.

Would an Invasion of Iraq be a "just War"?

Would an Invasion of Iraq be a Author: David R. Smock
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Iraq
Languages : en
Pages : 16

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Book Description


The Ethics of Preventive War

The Ethics of Preventive War PDF Author: Deen K. Chatterjee
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521765684
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 271

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Book Description
The book examines the complex and contested moral and legal issues of preventive warfare.

Just War and Preemption

Just War and Preemption PDF Author: Usmc Command USMC Command and Staff College
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781511746571
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 36

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Book Description
The post-Cold War era presented to the nations of the world the opportunity to experience peace in a way that had not been enjoyed for decades, if not centuries. However, since the end of the Cold War there have been a significant number of smaller conflicts, genocides, ethnic cleansings, and regional battles. The September 11, 2001, attacks against targets in the United States brought the strife to the US in an unexpected way. Since that day, there has been a significant level of US military activity in the world, and plenty of debate over how to do it. One of the most interesting aspects of the debate is over the "preemptive war" that was started in Iraq. While this thesis is not specifically about Operation Iraqi Freedom, it is a catalyst, of sorts, for studying the subject of the Just War Tradition and its influence on preemptive military activities.

Strategic Preemption

Strategic Preemption PDF Author: Robert J. Pauly
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1351897624
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 182

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Book Description
Placing the second US-Iraq conflict in the context of emerging trends in international relations, this exceptional, timely volume examines the broad framework of US policy toward Iraq under the administration of George W. Bush. The Second Iraq War marks the third time since 1991 that the United States has invaded a Muslim country, and this book details not only the specifics of the conflict, but the war's broad impact on US relations with Muslim states, both in a regional and global context. It analyzes the development of the previous US policy of containment to the new doctrine of preemption. The volume also: ¢ Examines the linkages between Al Qaeda's attacks on the United States on 11 September 2001 and the prosecution of the Second Iraq War. ¢

Iraq

Iraq PDF Author: Craig M. White
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 0739138952
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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Book Description
Iraq: The Moral Reckoning applies classic just war theory to the U.S. decision to go to war in 2003. That theory, which evolved over several millennia, is a simple, profound tool for evaluating the rightness and wisdom of starting a war. The Bush administration and its supporters referred directly and indirectly to the theory in making a pro-war case to the world. The theory provides three core moral criteria for a just war: sovereign authority, just cause, and right intention (which includes an aim of peace). It adds three practical criteria: proportionality of ends, last resort, and reasonable chance of success. For a just war, each criterion should be substantially met. Since war is destructive and each country is presumed to have the right to live in peace, the evidence in favor of war must be clearly stronger than evidence against it. For each criterion, Iraq: The Moral Reckoning painstakingly weighs Bush administration statements, or those of its supporters, against evidence available at the time. A wide range of viewpoints and evidence is considered, and contrary arguments are refuted. One full chapter is given to neoconservative arguments on just war theory and its application from prominent war supporters. Each criterion, except sovereign authority, is shown not to have been met. The book concludes with a discussion of the implications of an unjust war for the United States and the world. The intensive weighing of each criterion against the facts and the balanced approach make the book unique. By demonstrating a comprehensive application of the theory to one war, it not only sets a new standard for evaluating the 2003 Iraq war, but also shows how present and future wars can be better evaluated in moral and practical terms, based on knowledge available at the time.

Striking First

Striking First PDF Author: Michael W. Doyle
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691136580
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 201

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Book Description
Does the United States have the right to defend itself by striking first, or must it wait until an attack is in progress? Is the Bush Doctrine of aggressive preventive action a justified and legal recourse against threats posed by terrorists and rogue states? Tackling one of the most controversial policy issues of the post-September 11 world, Michael Doyle argues that neither the Bush Doctrine nor customary international law is capable of adequately responding to the pressing security threats of our times. In Striking First, Doyle shows how the Bush Doctrine has consistently disregarded a vital distinction in international law between acts of preemption in the face of imminent threats and those of prevention in the face of the growing offensive capability of an enemy. Taking a close look at the Iraq war, the 1998 attack against al Qaeda in Afghanistan, and the Cuban Missile Crisis, among other conflicts, he contends that international law must rely more completely on United Nations Charter procedures and develop clearer standards for dealing with lethal but not immediate threats. After explaining how the UN can again play an important role in enforcing international law and strengthening international guidelines for responding to threats, he describes the rare circumstances when unilateral action is indeed necessary. Based on the 2006 Tanner Lectures at Princeton University, Striking First includes responses by distinguished political theorists Richard Tuck and Jeffrey McMahan and international law scholar Harold Koh, yielding a lively debate that will redefine how--and for what reasons--tomorrow's wars are fought.

The War to Oust Saddam Hussein

The War to Oust Saddam Hussein PDF Author: James Turner Johnson
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 9780742549562
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 180

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Book Description
This is the first and only book to provide a moral analysis of the war in Iraq and its implications for the future of the war and peacemaking. The War to Oust Saddam hussein addresses the key questions most people are asking today: What should be the standard for pre-emptive uses of military force? What of the other arguments offered for the need to remove Saddam Hussein and restructure Iraq? What is to be said for the furture of fruitful relations between the cultures of the West and of Islam?

Striking First

Striking First PDF Author: B. Glad
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137085762
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 232

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Book Description
How have the September 11th terrorist attacks and the subsequent U.S. led war on terrorism impacted American foreign policy at home and abroad? The consistent theme throughout this collection of essays is that September 11th was a watershed event, which sparked a redefinition and reassessment of U.S. foreign policy, governmental institutions, and the public's sense of internal and external security. The Bush Administration's endeavor to remake American foreign policy with an emphasis on a preemptive, first strike doctrine and its attempt to build an internal security apparatus are not only consequential in the war on terrorism, such efforts are challenging the very fundamentals of American political life and its perception throughout the world.