Waging War against Iraq: Jus Ad Bellum Considerations

The US-led invasion of Iraq is an attractive case to assess against the framework of just war theory, which has influenced the Bush administration’s effort to construct a moral and political basis for launching the war. On the whole, the just war tradition has developed with a rich historical significance when it comes to evaluating the moral and political implications of warfare. The advantage of just war theory is that it recognizes conflict among states and seeks to constrict its destructiveness and frequency by demanding the observance of jus ad bellum, jus in bello, and jus post bello moral principles. For some, this article may appear as an unethical relaxation of moral structures designed to constrain the use of force. Others may interpret the argument as an exaggeration of moral concerns and international restraints. The goal here is to tap the just war tradition, which at times allows for the use of force with limitations, in observing and assessing jus ad bellum considerations in the Bush administration’s case for war against Iraq.