Was The War In Iraq Justified Based On The Just War Theories? (Essay Sample)

Just war theory Name Institution affiliation Date Just war theory The just war theory holds that in some occasions wars can be necessary and just. The theory insists on two essential requirements in cases of war. One is that there should be a reasonable and just cause for going to war. The second is that the resulting harm from should be less than the good that is going to be achieved after the war. The war in Iraq has raised various questions on whether or not it was just. According to the just war theory, the war in Iraq was not justified. Basing on the theory, there was not enough reason for the United States to go to war with Iraq. The main reason that the war in Iraq was that the country had weapons of mass destructions. Therefore United Nations called upon troops to rid the weapons. However through a survey that was later conducted it was realized that the country had no such weapons. Additionally, the resulting damages from the war significantly exceeded the good that it was deemed to bring. The war caused a lot of damages in the country, causing destruction of structures and lowering the economy of the country as well as registering a significant number of dead innocent civilians (Campbell, & Howie, 2016). Most of the criterion of the just war theory was broken in waging war with Iraq. The criterion holds that the war should be a last resort, in this case, there were various strategies that the UN would have employed to solve the issues it had with Iraq. Proper investigations would have been conducted to determine whether or not the country held weapons of mass destruction. Additionally, dialogue with the country would have been employed than waging war (Lee, 2017). On the principle of a just cause, the war had no just proven cause. The war was waged based on rumors and propaganda; no research was conducted to determine the extent of the weapons that the country was deemed to possess. The principles of considering civilian casualties and proportionality, the war in Iraq seemed to have failed to consider as explained by O'Connell (2015). The war resulted in a considerable number of civilian causalities; this resulted in the amount of force that was employed. However, the war adhered to some of the principles of just war theory. The war was waged with the right intentions, to rid Iraq of the mass destructions weapons which were claimed to posses. Another principle that was considered in the war is the probability of success. The war in Iraq hoped that the country would be rid of the weapons. A legitimate authority waging war is another principle that was considered in the war in Iraq. United Nations is considered a legitimate authority that would wage for war in any country. The union is responsible for ensuring security in its member countries (Williams, 2012). Therefore it he...