Matt+Y.+-+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__.

Just war does create a big difference when people look at a war and if it was necessary to start fighting. Jus ad bellum (the right to go to war), such as Just Cause which means you have a good reason that is morally correct to go to war, and the necessity to go to pick up arms or Probability of success decide if its correct to go to war. Jus in bello (right conduct within war) are Distinction which is the acts of war should be directed toward the enemy and not pedestrians, and Military necessity or the amount of force needed to take down the enemy. My first chose the Invasion of Grenada in 1983 as a war because it is a smaller war that many people have heard of but do not know much about. Next the Korean War (1950-1953) due to it being a bigger war that people do know about. Lastly the Vietnam War which occurred during 1955-1975 which was very controversial. These three wars have more in common than just their occurrence in the 1900‘s.

Jus ad bellum includes the Just Cause and the Probability of success. Just cause means that you have the right intention to get involved in this war. The U.S. engaged in Operation Urgent Fury to “overthrow a Marxist government which had murdered socialist Prime Minister Maurice Bishop and seized power the previous week” (ABC-Clio 1). Along with just cause to the war, needing military force to win is another thing that is needed to be thought about before entering a war. The Soviets were also involved in the Korean war “The military was necessary because we were trying to control everybody and also we feared that the Soviets would try to seize the entire peninsula” (Treboni & Furlong). The Just Cause for a war has to be thought about before entering but also while in the war.

Jus in bello revolves around the conduct you should use when fighting a war and includes Distinction and Military Necessity. Military Necessity decides how much force you should use. “ many Americans, including most of us who were in the armed forces, believed that if South Vietnam fell to the Communists all of Southeast Asia would soon follow and the containment policy would be undermined...even though more than 30,000 Americans had died by then” (Korb). When you sent in troops you have to know who your aiming for. Distinction is this knowing “ it was North Korea fighting against South Korea in a civil war...the U.S supported the south” (Treboni & Furlong). If you are under control when you are in war then you usually are following Jus in bello.

After looking at these three wars under this criteria helps us decide which wars were more just than others. The most just war would probably be the Korean War. We got involved to help the South in a pre-existing war “North Korea fighting against South Korea in a civil war”. This moved the war along faster and helped the south maintain their land. Next would be Grenada because they were protecting people and didnt use too much force. Last would be the Vietnam war because they went in to stop the spread of communism in a totally foreign land and we lost many people. “ How, Gentlemen, can you justify the loss of over 45,000 young” (Metz). One can use these to decide if a war was the right way to stop a foreign event.


 * RUBRIC: A quality essay will **


 * • **** Explain why you selected the two jus ad bellum and the two jus in bello the criteria, **** done clearly **


 * •Use the __four__ criteria to analyze why the three small wars are "just wars", **** criteria used 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, **** clear reasoning supported by evidence **


 * •Explain why the __second__ choice fell short compared to the __first__ choice but is more just than the __third__ choice, **** comparison offered with reasoning and evidence **


 * •Organize you writing in ** **extended power paragraphs****,** ** competently used **


 * •Identify the source and establish its ** **credibility** **with an appositive phrase,** ** most sources credited **


 * •Cite evidence __internally__ and in a Works Cited. **** some internal citation errors; Works Cited not done **