Just War Theory And The 2003 Iraq War Politics Essay
The Iraq War or the second Gulf War has been commenced since 20 March 2003. Despite the troops consisted of military force of various western nations, it was actually led by the United States.
Over the years, people have questioned the Bush administration whether it is justified to invade Iraq, and whether the Iraq War fulfill the criteria of the Just War Theory. As such, this essay will attempt to determine whether the invasion of Iraq by the Bush administration is justified.
Just cause The reason for going to war must be just. Force may be used only to correct a grave, public evil, i.e. aggression or massive violation of the basic human rights of whole populations [1] . In addition to what we generally accept that force may only be used to correct a grave and public evil, Holmes (1992) stated that the criterion of just cause has been downgraded. He also stated that a war is justified in response to aggression, ie, self-defense.
