Argumentative Essay On Just War

“For war, as a grave act of killing, needs to be justified.” These words were written by Murray N. Rothbard, dean of the Austrian School and founder of modern libertarianism, who spent much of his academic career trying to determine what, exactly, defined a “just war”. In fact, for as long as humans have been fighting wars, there have been quotations referring to the justification and moralities of wars and how warfare can be considered fair and acceptable to each society’s individual standards. While the time and place of each war differs, the reality of the devastation of battle may be found warranted by those fighting using these just war standards to vindicate their actions.

Just war can be traced back to the pagan teachings, which was later refined by Christian leaders to justify their followers into going to war (Cahill, 2005). St. Augustine was identified as the first to offer his view on war and justice, viewing war as a necessary evil if peace and justice were to come and labeling it as something practical when conflict arises. Later on, St. Thomas Aquinas revised Augustine’s version and added three more conditions: the war had to be waged by the proper authority, the cause had to be just, and the intentions had to be right. All of these additions and refinements lead to the same just war theory that we are familiar with today (Baer, 2006).

World War 2 was a massive war which engulfed the whole world from 1939 – 1935. There were 2 different sides in the war. These two sides were the Allies and the axis. At the start of the war, the Allies consisted of Great Britain and all of its colonies (such as Australia) and France. The Axis consisted of Germany, Italy, Japan and the Soviet Union. At the start of the war the axis powers were dominating. Germany used “Blitzkrieg” (Lighting war) tactics very successfully and overran many countries using it. But some major events occurred and turned the tide of the war to the favour of the Allies. However two of these major events are most often talked about to be the reason that the axis powers eventually lost. One of these events includes the Japanese attack on pearl harbour. This brought America into the war and onto the side of the Allies. The other of the two events was instigated by Germany itself. Germany decided to attack one of their allies. This ally was the Soviet Union. There is often a lot of debate about which of these events is greatest, that is to have had the biggest effect in the war. So the question has to be asked, was it the US entrance into the war that made the defeat of Germany inevitable, or it caused by the German attack of the Soviet Union. In my opinion it was not the US entrance to the war, but the German invasion of the Soviet Union that made the ultimate defeat of Germany inevitable. This is because they put

The war of 1812 is one of the bloodiest wars in us history. This war having around 19,465 us casualties and less than a third of that of British casualty this is one of the worst wars the US has ever been in. But this number of casualty was not for nothing as they fought for a good cause. There efforts made America what it is today.

The damage of wars is way too much that it should never happen under any circumstance. No one should ever initiate a war and claim it justified. Let’s see why war should not be justified.

Pacifism covers an array of views and there are many subcategories of pacifism, some of which I will cover, but the main definition of the word pacifism is the opposition to war and/or violence. Perhaps the most famous use of the word pacifism is found in the “Sermon on the Mount”, where Jesus claims the “peacemakers” are blessed. In this passage, the Greek word eirenopoios is translated into Latin as pacifici, which means those who work for peace. One common and simple argument for pacifism among religious groups or god fearing people is the argument that god’s revealed words says, through the bible, “Thou shalt not kill.”

The war of 1812 could either be viewed as a justifiable war or pointless to the American and English people. The United States declared war on the British on June 18, 1812, for many reasons. To some, the causes of the war were not grave enough for a real war to erupt. However, there are three main motives that clearly made it valid to declare war. The British’s actions of impressment, efforts to restrict the United State’s trade, and the conquest for land in Canada and Florida were major contributors of the war of 1812 being considered justified for America.

When is it justifiable to engage in war? This question has plagued humanity for centuries and continues to do so. The theory of just war addresses three important questions when considering and dealing with war. These components are when is it justifiable to go to war, the right ways to conduct proceedings during war, and the justification of terminating war. The first part of the theory, originally written in Latin as jus ad bellum, is an important idea within Pope Urban II’s, “Speech at Clermont.” In the 11th century Pope Urban II gave this speech as a call for crusade with the hope of freeing Jerusalem from Muslim control. They eventually succeeded in this mission and took the city of Jerusalem. The “Speech at Clermont,” is now an important source for understanding the justifications of going to war within the medieval just war theory. Throughout the speech Pope Urban II justified the crusade by claiming it was the responsibility of the Christian people to regain the Holy Land, to protect their fellow Christians in the East, and their duty to stop the “disgraceful” and “demon worshipping” Muslim people.

"I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God." (Title 10, US Code; Act of 5 May 1960 replacing the wording first adopted in 1789, with amendment effective 5 October 1962).

The just war theory has a long history. Parts of the Bible hint at ethical behavior in war and concepts of just cause, announcing the justice of war by divine intervention.

World War 2 was the largest and most deadly war in history. The first world war had happened just two decades prior of the second world war and it was also a very gruesome war.

The Iraqi war was highly unjustified, the imposition of the American forces in the Iraqi soil was uncalled for, and it bred a lot of hostility between the Middle East and the United states that resulted in acts of terrorism against the United States. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi people were killed including civilians

As explained by William Hawk in his essay “Pacifism: Reclaiming the Moral Presumption”, the pacifist is a person that refuses to participate in war for in any circumstance for two reasons; the grounding belief that war is wrong, and the belief that human life is sacred and invaluable. Many pacifist

The Just War Theory is a doctrine founded by Saint Augustine which has helped bring much discussion and debate to wars and the morality to fight in them. Wars and fights between people have gone on forever and are not perceived to stop anytime soon so it is important that some people thought about when and why they should ever fight. For many years Christians never part toke in this fighting due to teachings of the Bible and Jesus' teaching on 'turning the other cheek' and 'live by the sword, die by the sword'. Saint Augustine would be one of the first to talk about how a Christian could be a soldier and serve God at the same time. Through this thought we would receive the Just War Theory which gave a set of requirements for someone to partake

The Reason for Going to War Since the beginning of the war on Iraq, over 8243 civilians, 11000 Iraqi soldiers and 642 Coalition soldiers have died. There has not been one day since a US soldier was killed and since the beginning of the occupation, 39750 bombs have been dropped and $117 billion dollars have been spent. And no weapons of mass destruction have been found.