Just War Theory - Research Paper Example

?Just war theory and how it relates to Desert Storm and the war in Afghanistan “Just war theory is a doctrine of military ethics of Roman philosophical and Catholic origin, studied by moral theologians, ethicists and international policy makers, which hold that a violent conflict ought to meet philosophical, religious or political criteria” (Just war theory). It is a fact that plenty of unnecessary wars took place in history which sacrificed the lives of millions of innocent people. Just war theory says that wars can be justified only if it is fought for philosophical, religious or political reasons. Wars conducted for economic reasons cannot be justified under just war theory. Operations Desert Storm or Gulf war was conducted during 17 January 1991 – 28 February 1991, between an UN-authorized coalition forces from 34 nations against Iraq. The UN coalition forces were headed by America and the reason for this war was Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. George Bush Sr. was the American president at that time. The current Afghan war was started in 2001, immediately after the 9/11 incident. This war is often labeled as war on terror and the reason cited for this war was that terrorists use Afghan soil for conducting violent activities across the world. Taliban was accused for keeping nexus with other terrorist organizations in the world. In other words, America suspects that Taliban, Al Qaida and other terrorist organizations are working against America from Afghan soil. Politicians and neutral observers have different opinions about operation desert storm and Afghan war. Some people support these wars whereas others oppose it. This paper analyses operation desert storm and Afghan war in terms of just war theory. Historically, the just war tradition may be said to commonly evolve between two culturally similar enemies. That is, when an array of values are shared between two warring peoples, we often find that they implicitly or explicitly agree upon limits to their warfare. But when enemies differ greatly because of different religious beliefs, race, or language, and as such they see each other as “less than human”, war conventions are rarely applied (Mosely). Gulf War took place between two culturally similar countries. Muslims or Arabs in Kuwait and Iraq have same religious beliefs and customs. There are plenty of similarities between Iraqis and Kuwaitis. Under such circumstances, one can definitely conclude that just war theory is definitely applicable to Gulf war. On the other hand, war in Afghanistan is taking place between Christian dominated America and Muslim dominated Taliban or Afghan people. Even though Muslims and Christians do have a common father in Abraham (Jewism, Islam and Christianity are three Abrahamic religions), their beliefs and customs are entirely different. Christians believe that Jesus the saviour of human kind whereas Muslims believe that Prophet Mohammad is the saviour of humans. In short, Afghan war cannot be included under the just war theory since two culturally different parties are fighting each other here. “It has been the concern of the majority of just war theorists that the lack of rules to war or any asymmetrical morality between belligerents should be denounced, and that the rules of war should apply to all equally” (Mosely). Saddam’s ambitions to expand Iraq’s territory were resulted in Gulf War. Iraq failed to accept Kuwait as a sovereign state and they tried to conquer it using muscle power. Saddam argued that Kuwait is part of Iraq historically and it should be added to Iraq’s territories. On the other hand, international community was not convinced by these arguments and the result was Gulf War. On the other hand, 9/11 caused war on terror and Afghan war. America started two war fronts; one in Afghanistan and another in Iraq immediately after the 9/11 incident. America believed that Saddam has joined hands with Al Quaid leader Osama to conduct terrorist activities in America. In their opinion, the Taliban dominated Afghanistan was the origin of all sorts of terrorist activities in the world. Some moral norms were followed by warriors earlier while conducting wars. Earlier, fighters were more concerned about the treatment of war prisoners, women and children. According to the principles of just war theory, war prisoners should be treated honourably and the lives of women and children should be saved as much as possible while conducting wars. However, in the case of Gulf war and Afghan war, these principles were violated immensely. Many innocent women and children lost their lives and the treatment of war prisoners were cruel. In short, the norms of just war theory were violated heavily in operations desert storms and also in Afghan war. “Just war doctrine, does not depend upon consensus among states-although it would welcome consensus. It is intended to guide the consciences of political and military decision-makers, of those who implement decisions, and of ordinary citizens” (O'Brien, p.799). Operation desert storm got support from majority of the countries all over the world even though few countries opposed it. It should be noted that majority of the countries criticized Saddam’s decision to conquer Iraq and all them demanded an immediate withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait. However, Saddam rejected these demands and thus Gulf War became inevitable. On the other hand, majority of the countries oppose America’s decision to attack Iraq and Afghanistan after 9/11. This is because of the fact that the cited reasons for these wars were illogical and against the norms of just war theory. It should be noted that the major culprit of 9/11 attacks, Osama was hiding in Pakistan instead of Afghanistan. Moreover, America accused Iraq or Saddam for possessing illegal weapons. Even after a decade of war, America failed to seize any illegal weapons from Iraqi soil. Moreover, they failed to put an end to terrorism even though they destroyed Iraq and Afghanistan. All these factors clearly suggests that war on terror or Afghan war was against the norms of just war theory whereas operations desert storm was in line with the principles of just war theory. The just war condition of competent authority requires that public force be employed under the authority of officials who have the legal right to commit their State to war. (In this case it is unnecessary to grapple with the difficult question of evaluating claims to competent authority by leaders of revolutionary movements.). In the case of Desert Storm, President George Bush had competent authority from two sources: the Constitution of the United States and the Charter of the United Nations as implemented by the Security Council (O'Brien, p.803). Afghan war is still going on even after a decade from its beginning. Nobody knows when this war will be ended or when American troops will be withdrew from Afghan soil. In fact Afghan war is perhaps the longest war in the modern history of wars. According to Rev. Dr. Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite & Brian Katulis (2009), “The original justification has been overtaken by events, and some operations—such as airstrikes killing a disproportionate number of civilians—have made it difficult to classify Afghanistan as a just war” (Rev. Dr. Thistlethwaite & Katulis). It is a fact that Taliban is engaged in terrorist activities for a long period. In fact Taliban and its functioning can be attributed to Islamic fundamentalism and religious atrocities. Human rights have no values in Taliban regime and religious beliefs are dictating all norms of social life in Afghanistan. Because of such adamant belief in religion and religious principles, many fundamentalists in afghan are engaged in terrorist activities. How can a war be truly just when it involves the daily killing of civilians, when it causes hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children to leave their homes to escape the bombs, when it may not find those who planned the September 11 attacks, and when it will multiply the ranks of people who are angry enough at this country to become terrorists themselves?(Zinn). It is a fact that majority of the Afghanis are peace loving and they don’t have any connection with terrorist activities. Under such circumstances, it is totally unacceptable to attack a sovereign state like Afghanistan in the name of war on terror. America should have used other strategies to wipe off terrorism from Afghan soil instead of war. It should be noted that America is keeping a distance from Iran at present even though Iran is accused for engaging in anti-American activities. This is because of the fact that Iran is believed to be a nuclear power at present and it may not be easy for America to conquer Iran in a battle. In other words, America attacked Afghanistan only because of their confidence and belief that Afghanistan does not possess much military power to counter American threats. Moreover, Afghan administration behaved as a toy in the hands of American leaders. To conclude, Afghan war was definitely against the norms of just war theory whereas operation desert storm can be justified up to certain extend based on just war theory. Saddam conquered Kuwait to expand Iraq’s territories whereas America attacked Afghanistan in the name of war on terror. In short, Gulf war and Afghan war were two contrasting wars. The reasons for Afghan war were not included in just war theory whereas the cited reasons for gulf War can be justified with the help of just war theory. Works Cited “Just War Theory”. Web. 08 May 2012. Mosely, Alexander. “Just War Theory”. 2009. Internet encyclopaedia of philosophy.Web. 08 May 2012. O'Brien, William V. Desert Storm: A Just War Analysis. 1992. St. John's Law Review. Volume 66 Issue 3 Volume 66, Fall 1992, Number 3. Print Rev. Dr. Thistlethwaite, Susan Brooks & Katulis, Brian. “How to Make the Afghanistan War a “Just War””. 2009. Web. 08 May 2012. Zinn, Howard. “A Just Cause, Not a Just War”. 2001. The Progressive. December 2001 Issue. Web. 08 May 2012. Read More