Unjust Iraq War Essay - 1484 Words

The Iraq war has been a very sensitive and divisive issue in todays society. Although we can not ignore the cloud around this administration when it comes to potential incentives that going to war presented, (such as oil for profits and retaliation to Saddam Hussein for the Gulf War and treatment of President Bush Sr.), I will look beyond these potential motives to explain why the U.S. involvement in the Iraq War was unjust simply because it doesnt fall into any of the four functions of force authored by Robert J. Art. The United States ignored the U.N. guidelines for peace, as well as its public protest against the war, to strike Iraq with an unprovoked attack. A war fought on the premise that this country had ties to Osama Bin Laden,†¦show more content†¦The easiest way to prove that was to find the weapons of mass destruction or supported programs. Leaving aside the fact that many do not accept this interpretation even in principle, the U.S.( Britain, its primary military ally) needed to demonstrate that Iraqs weapons of mass destruction compatibility was imminent. They failed to do so, both before and after the war.(276) This strike doesnt fit as a defense of preemptive, (an attack in hours or days), nor does it fit for defense of preventive, (an attack in months or years). The U.S. had successfully attacked a harmless country. The next function of force according to Art is deterrence. This serves to prevent the enemy from doing something that one doesn’t want him to do and that he might otherwise be tempted to do by threatening him with unacceptable punishment if he does. In essence this is the threat of retaliation for deviating from one’s requests. The effectiveness of the threat depends upon the states’ credibility for carrying out the threat, and the United States being the superpower that it is, had all the credibility needed to have the full attention of the Iraqi leader. This is why Hussein complied with the UN in 2002 with the Security Council Resolution 1441. This act demanded that Iraq re-admit weapons inspectors and comply with previous resolutions it has ignored since the 1990s. Even after the U.N. inspector Hans Blix reported that there was noShow MoreRelatedEssay on Just War Doctrine And The Gulf Conflict1275 Words   |  6 Pages Just War Doctrine and the Gulf Conflict nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;In evaluating US involvement in the Iraq conflict in terms of the Just War Doctrine - jus ad bellum and jus in bello - it is my opinion that the US adhered to the Doctrine in its entirety. The US acted justly both in its entering into the Gulf conflict (jus ad bellum) and in its conduct while in the conflict (jus in bello). 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