Lucas+S.+-+Just+War

Home Small Wars Project Just Wars Essays

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

Lucas Sencio

December 7, 2011

How just were the U.S.’s small wars?

A just war is a war fought for just reasons, but what makes a reason just? A war could be fought for many reasons; it could be just to get back at someone, it could be just to take over land, but a just war is fought to protect one’s country, when one of your allies needs aid, or when one of the sides of the war is clearly being overrun by the other side, and those reasons fall under the categories of // just cause // and // comparative justice // in the Jus ad Bellum list. Military should only be brought into a just war if all peaceful ways to resolving the war were neglected, and if military goes into a just war, civilian and non-combatant targeting should be kept to a minimum which are the two criteria //military necessity// and //distinction// in the Jus in Bello list. The wars that fit those criteria the best are the Spanish American war in 1998, Somalia in 1992, and Veracruz Mexico.

Out of those three wars, the Spanish American war was the most just. It was just because it falls under the category of Just Cause. The United States was defending Cuba "which was being taken over by Spain" (Bobby B. and Reyna L. Wiki). Cuba could have fought alone, but they were outnumbered by Spain, which also puts this war under the comparative justice criteria. The U.S. "has the right to interfere with other countries in order from it to ensure freedom" (Bobby B. and Reyna L. Wiki), which is what the U.S. did because Spain could have tried to take over the United States after it took control of Cuba's firearms and weapons. The U.S. stopped Spain from taken over Cuba and other countries, and that's why I believe the Spanish American war was the most just war fought between the three wars I chose.

The second most just war was Somalia. The country was being overrun by drug/ land lords. They were "torturing innocent people" (Sarah H. and Catt P. Wiki) which was the reason they U.S. decided to enter this war. The drug lords broke one of the Jus in Bello criteria of distinction, they were fighting non-combatants instead of focusing on other problems within their country. The country "was being overrun by communists, just like in Grenada" (Sarah H. and Catt P. Wiki) which was something that also concerned the U.S. because one of its main goals was to stop the spread of communism. The U.S. had already tried to resolve conflicts peacefully with communist and it never worked, which showed that peace wouldn't be an option in this war. Also the U.S. followed the criteria of military necessity, keeping our firepower to a minimum and only targeting the enemy.

The third war was Veracruz, Mexico. The U.S. settled in prohibited territory in Mexico, but instead of working towards a peaceful treaty, Mexico's leader "launched a period of "big stick" diplomacy (Ashley M. Brian M. wiki). The U.S. demanded an apology, but Mexico refused to do so, and that's why the U.S. went to war. Although many say "the U.S. had no right to ask for an apology" (Ashley M. Brian M. wiki), there were legitimate threats coming from Mexico that terrified the U.S. soldiers. This war falls under the category of both military necessity, and just cause, because although the U.S. went to war for not getting an apology, they kept its military power to a minimum because they only went to war for one purpose, and that was to get things with Mexico straightened out.

I chose Somalia to as my second most just war because it was a war fought to keep our country safe from communism, which was a bigger reason for going to war. But protecting a country who could potentially be one of our strongest allies, is a much greater and just reason for going to war, also the U.S. knew the Cubans were being outnumbered by the Spanish, giving them no chance to win without the U.S.'s help.


 * RUBRIC: A quality essay will **
 * • **** Explain why you selected the two jus ad bellum and the two jus in bello the criteria, **** criteria generally identified not explained **
 * •Use the __four__ criteria to analyze why the three small wars are "just wars", **** criteria generally used **
 * •Support your analysis of each war with evidence from the Small Wars Wiki, **** some evidence used to support your claims **
 * •Rank the three small wars and explain why one war is more just than the other two, **** some analysis **
 * •Explain why the __second__ choice fell short compared to the __first__ choice but is more just than the __third__ choice, **** listed, some comparison offered without evidence **
 * •Organize you writing in ** **extended power paragraphs****,** ** some attempt to power paragraphs **
 * •Identify the source and establish its ** **credibility** **with an appositive phrase,** **some sources credited**
 * •Cite evidence __internally__ and in a Works Cited. **** some internal citations correctly cited; WC omitted **