Just War Theory: a Way of Morally Justifying War

just war theory 'A way of morally justifying war by the theory that, despite its evils, war may be necessary and justifiable under certain conditions and within certain limitations. Conditions for entering and conducting wars are constructed.It differs from pacifism and the holy war theory. The traditional theory of the just war covers three main topics-the cause of war, the conduct of war, and the consequences of war. Or, in the Scholastic tags: jus ad bellum, jus in bello, and jus post bellum. But most attention is given now to the middle term, the conduct of war. That is where clear offenses are most easily identified, though only occasionally reported and even more rarely punished. The two main rules of jus in bello have to do with discrimination between combatants and noncombatants, the latter to be spared as far as possible, and proportionality, so that violence is calibrated to its need for attaining the war’s end. The claims of morality here are recognized with difficulty in actual combat, and disputed when recognized

The just War theory determines conditions for judging in the event that it is simply to fight, and conditions for how the war ought to be fought. Despite the fact that it was broadly created by Christian scholars, it tends to be utilized by individuals of each faith and none. The simply war theory is to a great extent Christian way of thinking that endeavors to accommodate three things, taking human life isn't right, states have an obligation to defend their residents, and guard equity ensuring innocent human life and safeguarding significant virtues and expects ability to utilize power and brutality. The aim of Just War Theory is to give a guidance for the correct route for states to act in potential clash circumstances. It just applies to states, and not to people (despite the fact that an individual can utilize the hypothesis to enable them to choose whether it is ethically appropriate to partake in a specific war

Principles of the Just War were manged to prevent wars and its disastrous outcome. Such as, a just war can only be waged as a last resort. All non-violent options must be exhausted before the use of force can be justified. War can only be just if it is fought with a reasonable chance of success. Deaths and injury incurred in a hopeless cause are not morally justifiable. The ultimate goal of a just war is to re-establish peace. More specifically, the peace established after the war must be preferable to the peace that would have prevailed if the war had not been fought. The violence used in the war must be proportional to the injury suffered. States are prohibited from using force not necessary to attain the limited objective of addressing the injury suffered. The weapons used in war must discriminate between combatants and non-combatants. Civilians are never permissible targets of war, and every effort must be taken to avoid killing civilians. The deaths of civilians are justified only if they are unavoidable victims of a deliberate attack on a military target

A war is just only if it is waged by a legitimate authority. Even just causes cannot be served by actions taken by individuals or groups who do not constitute an authority sanctioned by whatever the society and outsiders to the society deem legitimate. Since Howard Zinn argues that two moral judgments can be made about the recent 'war': The September 11 attack constitutes a crime against humanity and cannot be justified, and the bombing of Afghanistan is also a crime, which cannot be justified. And, voices across the political spectrum, including many on the left, have described this as a just war. One longtime advocate of peace, Richard Falk, wrote in The Nation that this is 'the first truly just war since World War II.' Robert Kuttner, another consistent supporter of social justice, declared in The American Prospect that only people on the extreme left could believe this is not a just war 

A war can only be just if it is fought with a reasonable chance of success. Deaths and injury incurred in a hopeless cause are not morally justifiable. A State should only go to war if it has a reasonable chance of winning. Going to war for a hopeless cause may be a noble act, but it is an unethical one. This comes from the idea that war is a great evil, and that it is wrong to cause suffering, pain, and death with no chance of success. So it would be unethical for a state to sacrifice the lives of its people (and the lives of its enemy's people) in a futile gesture that would not change anything. However, this condition can be dealt with by forming alliances with other countries in order to make an unwinnable war winnable by ganging up on a common enemy. It is unjust to wage war if defeat is the most likely outcome. The nature of the war in Afghanistan means that U.S. military forces cannot achieve success on their own – the struggle for stability is not purely a conventional military struggle

The weapons used in war must discriminate between combatants and non-combatants. Civilians are never permissible targets of war, and every effort must be taken to avoid killing civilians. The deaths of civilians are justified only if they are unavoidable victims of a deliberate attack on a military target.The Israeli unrelenting attack on Gaza, , has not stopped Hamas firing rockets that have killed Israelis after the assault began, reaching deeper into the Jewish state than ever before and sending tens of thousands of people fleeing. Although Israel escalated its action further, as its troops poured across Gaza's border, part of what appeared to be a significant ground invasion. And these operation is already in full swing to justify the further cost in innocent lives that would almost certainly resulted. The government's national information directorate sought to focus foreign media attention on the 8,500 rockets fired from Gaza into Israel over the past eight years and the 20 civilians they have killed, rather than the punishing blockade of Gaza and the 1,700 Palestinians killed in Israeli military attacks since Jewish settlers were pulled out of Gaza three years ago.