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Comparison Essay: How Just Were the U.S.’s Small Wars?

The Just War Theory has two parts. Study the Just War handout and select the two most significant criteria for **//jus ad bellum//** and two most significant criteria for **//jus in bello//**. With these criteria in mind, select one war from each of your three tables that best meets these criteria. In the essay, you will analyze, compare and rank these three wars.

Write an essay that compares the three small wars and analyzes how well all three meet the four criteria that you believe are most important. Based on this comparison, select the __"most just"__ of the three wars and explain the reasons for the choice. Also, explain why your __second choice__ fell short and were not as just as your __first choice__ but is more just than your __third choice__.

RUBRIC: A quality essay will Explain why you selected **jus ad bellum** and **jus in bello** the criteria, Use the __four__ criteria to analyze why the three small wars are "just wars", Support your analysis of each war with evidence from the Small Wars Wiki, Rank the three small wars and explain why one war is more just than the other two, Explain why the __second__ choice fell short compared to the __first__ choice but is more just than the __third__ choice, Organize you writing in extended power paragraphs, Identify the source and establish its credibility with an appositive phrase, Cite evidence __internally__ and in a Works Cited.

POST JUST WAR ESSAY HERE

The United States has been involved in many small wars in it’s existence. Whenever the US becomes involved in a war, there is a set of rules that they must consider. These are called the criteria for just wars, and they must always be taken into consideration. The criteria for a just war is broken up into two parts, Jus ad Bellum, which is the right to go to war, and Jus in Bello, which is the right conduct within war. Out of all the small wars the US has fought, the most frequent reasons for going to war have been Just Cause and Right Intention, and the most frequent conducts within the wars have been Distinction and Military Necessity. The small wars of Veracruz, Mexico in 1915, Rwanda in 1994, and Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1992 all follow these popular reasons and conduct of war in both just and unjust ways. By analyzing these wars based on the Jus as Bellum and Jus in Bello criteria, determining the most and least just wars is a simple process. The United States went to war in Veracruz, Mexico when Victoriano Huerta became President. He wanted to revolutionize the Mexican government; abolishing an old contract with the US, allowing them to use the oil in the ports of Tampico and Veracruz(small war wiki page). The United States involvement in the war, according to the Jus as Bellum and Jus in Bello criteria, proved to be very unjust. The US did not have the right intentions of going to war; as they only wanted to ensure the unlimited use of the oil ports in the country. The authors of the wiki page for this war described the dispute in Veracruz to be in the profiteering category of small wars, which are used to “grab trade”(wiki page). This, however, is against the right intentions for going to war, which makes this war unjust. Also, the United States right to go to war was violated by an unjust cause. The just cause reasons for going to war state that “The reason for going to war needs to be just and cannot therefore be solely for recapturing things taken”(criteria for a just war). The US wanted to regain control of the oil ports. Therefore, they went to war to do so. In order to label a war just or unjust, the Jus in Bello criteria must be evaluated as well. The US fighting tactics in this war were too, very unjust. The principle of distinction was completely lost, as there was many attacks on the Mexican citizens. William H. Beezley, a professor of history at the University of Arizona, said that, “During the three days of fighting, the Americans lost 19 killed and 47 wounded. More than 400 Mexican civilians died and 1,000 soldiers were driven from the city” (Beezley U.S. Landing…). Many people died in just 3 days of fighting; which also touches the topic of military necessity. The large amount of military in Veracruz contributed to why this war was unjust. The large amount of military led to unnecessary death and destruction, making the war unjust. The genocide in Rwanda was both a just and unjust war for different reasons regarding the criteria for a just war. Instead of being too involved in the war, the United States was not involved enough, which resulted in the deaths of as many as 800,00 Tutsis{one of the “groups” in Rwanda}. This war was a direct violation of the Jus ad Bellum criteria, and more specifically, the just cause reason for going to war. Innocent lives were in danger and the US should have declared war in order to save the lives of the Tutsis. However, this was was unimportant to the US considering the States knew of the conflict but continued to “postpone the inevitable judgment that genocide had occurred in Rwanda” (Thomas Patrick Melady, Columbia International Affairs Online). Due to the fact that there was no just cause present, there was also no right intention, making the war unjust, in that perspective, for peculiar reasons. On the other hand, according to the Just in Bello criteria, the US fought this war in a just manor. The principle of distinction and minimum force were used correctly considering the States did not even enter Rwanda during the time of the genocide. The US used it’s forces to “create peace between the Hutus and Tutsis as Rwanda worked to became more stable”(small war wiki page). Yet, the Unites States did not intervene in the war, making this war unjust, to a point. The war in Bosnia-Herzegovia, which was when the Serbians created a genocide by killing all of the non-Serbs, was a just war; for both the United States reasons and conduct in war. After the Holocaust, the US signed The Genocide Convention. This stated that the US would not let a genocide happen again, and because of this treaty, President Clinton pressed NATO to enter the war(small war wiki page). The United States had a just cause and right intention of entering this war in order to save the lives of the innocent non-Serbs. What also made this war a just war was the way the US fought. Military necessity was not abused; in fact, “the outcome of of this war called for 60,000 NATO troops that included 20,000 Americans to act as peacekeepers”(small war wiki page). The States also followed the principle of distinction, and the military did not harm or kill innocent civilians. According to eLibrary, “When NATO entered the war, they fought until negotations were met and the fighting ended within a year”(eLibrary). This proved that not only did the US have the right cause to go to war, they also had the right conduct within the war. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 90%; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Out of these three wars, the most just war is the war in Bosnia Herzegovina, then the genocide in Rwanda, and ending with the war that was the most unjust, the war in Veracruz, Mexico. The war in Bosnia ranks highest because in was just in both areas of the criteria for just wars, Jus ad Bellum and Jus in Bello. The genocide in Rwanda comes in a close second because, while the US did fight in a just way, we refused to get involved in the war, costing the lives on many, which is very unjust. Finally, the most unjust war was the war in Veracruz, Mexico. The United States right to go to war and it’s conduct within the war were unjust and should not have happened. Overall, the United States has had both just and unjust wars throughout it’s years. RUBRIC: A quality essay will

Explain why you selected the two jus ad bellum and the two jus in bello the criteria, criteria identified and explained

Use the __four__ criteria to analyze why the three small wars are "just wars", criteria to analyze the wars

Support your analysis of each war with evidence from the Small Wars Wiki, evidence used to support your claims

Rank the three small wars and explain why one war is more just than the other two, evidence and reasoning is clear

Explain why the __second__ choice fell short compared to the __first__ choice but is more just than the __third__ choice, <span style="color: #ff000c; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">listed with some rationale

Organize you writing in extended power paragraphs, competently used

Identify the source and establish its credibility with an appositive phrase, not done clearly

Cite evidence __internally__ and in a Works Cited. internal citation errors; WC not done