Literature Review -why we went to war in Iraq - Research Paper Example

Hussein, indiscriminate killing, large-scale unemployment, loss of basic infrastructure, lack of law-enforcement, and armed resistance, made the country’s future appear bleak. This is particularly true for the most vulnerable sections of Iraqi society: the children, women and old people (Ismael, 2007). The classical Just War tradition with ethical criteria for pre-emptive war, is not adequately filled by the Bush Administration’s use of military force in the attack it led against Iraq, as part of the war against global terrorism.

The doctrine of pre-emptive war in the case of Iraq fails vital ethical tests (Wester 20). The theoretical framework of the doctrine of Just War related to the concept of an unavoidable war to protect humanitarian rights, forms a useful tool for analysis. The doctrine includes international laws on the use of armed force in combat. “Beyond strict assessments of the legality of war, Just War doctrine is concerned with the broader notion of justice” (Enemark & Michaelson 545). The Just War doctrine is based on the principle that the inevitable death and destruction caused by war results in the burden of proof falling on those who advocate the use of armed force.

The two dimensions to Just War doctrine are: jus ad bellum or the justice of going to war, and jus in bello or the just conduct of war. The six interconnected jus ad bellum criteria combine together to make the going to war a fair intervention. They are: “Just Cause, Right Authority, Right Intention, Reasonable Prospect of Success, Proportionate Cause, and War as a Last Resort” (Enemark & Michaelson 545). Flint & Falah (p.1379) support the view that America’s construction of a Just War was deceptively based on “prime morality” by functioning at the level of individuals and humankind rather than at interstate power politics.

The researchers found that the geographic assumptions of just war theory could not apply in the case of Iraq, and they explain the hegemonic