Is War Justified Essay

War-- a horrific way of justifying our actions and the innocent lives that have been lost, but on the other hand has resolved some of the greatest conflicts in history. Not every issue ever raised in this world is resolved through negotiation and discussion, rather sometimes war becomes a necessity for countries to settle disputes. War is a part of how a society strengthens itself politically, socially, and economically however, ultimately it becomes a country’s abusive use of power.

War leads to oppression and leaves negative implications on all people and societies by impacting the poor, women, children, and nations as a whole. "War is a state of violent conflict between one or more groups" (Rasenberger 3). Rasenberger defines war as a state of conflict between one group within itself or several groups in combat with each other, what is not mentioned are the after-effects of war. War itself leads to many civilian and military deaths, an estimated 1.5-3.8 million people died during the Vietnam War and an approximate 500,000 people died in the Iraq war. The biggest tragedy of War is that it always results in fatality, but another key, negative, factor to understand is that after the War many adverse implications arise. Post-war ramifications in the nation fall upon the poor, women, and children, making them weaker and less motivated leading to the downfall of a society. Regardless if a nation wins or is defeated in war they have to deal with consequences of war and find solutions to the impacted people and society. It is essential to understand that there is never a true victor in war because regardless of the outcome, fatality and a fall of morale within society on both sides are inevitable. War has often been the solution to situations that required force or violence, but in recent times this has

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.

The conflict of war and its effects have been debated throughout history. Some argue that there are other peaceful alternatives besides war that would lead to a better outcome, but in reality this is not the case. War is a natural part of human interactions, and even though it brings death and destruction, war will not cease to exist. Wars are the human way of getting one group to look superior than the other. The idea of a passive approach is ideal, but it is almost nearly impossible and may not always lead to the same outcome as if a war had taken place.

The question "Can war be justified?" plagued mankind since the first war. The Just War Theory holds that war can be just. The theory has evolved for thousands of years and modern theorists, such as Michael Walzer, author of Just and Unjust Wars, puts forth criteria for a just war, such as jus ad bellum and jus in bello. Jus ad bellum includes reasons for going to war, and jus in bello deals with the people who wage war. The criteria in jus ad bellum include; just cause, declaration by a proper authority, right intention, a reasonable chance of success, the end proportional to the means, and war as a last resort. Jus in bello includes keeping innocents outside the field of war, and limiting the amount of force used. Just War Theorists

Can a nation justify using military force? A very respected English leader Winston Churchill once told the people of England that, “We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be we shall fight on the beaches we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.” In contraction, John F. Kennedy uttered, “Mankind must put an end to war before war puts an end to mankind.” Over the course of history, millions of people were murdered for the sake of land, resources, and money. In comparison, war been fought to save lives and for self-defense. In some cases, war can be justified.

The ostensible contradiction between war and morality has resulted in serious moral questions that many ethicists have tried to answer. Is war ever just? Is war just an irremovable part of human nature? Is some war just? The world constantly finds itself in a state of some form of war, and as such it seems that assessing the morality of war is essential.

During the United States' wars in the middle east alone, an estimated two hundred and ten thousand civilians have died violent deaths, and the number of deaths caused by inadequate resources and an inhabitable environment is thought to exceed that number. During the Vietnam War “as many as 2 million civilians on both sides” were slaughtered, as well; the destruction of war does not only affect those who wear a uniform. These deadly and unnecessary fights, where hands slippery with blood scrabble to grasp at power, fail to protect anyone, and they consume life and light and peace in exchange for resources that are far less precious – such a trade goes against all of the goodness in human nature. Wherever war goes, ruin, irreparable pain, and need become inevitable, leaving those who have no part in the war to bear the brunt of the burden, so governments should find themselves quite reluctant to employ military

While many argue whether the war was justified, the war is ultimately unjust and other methods should have been used to intervene.

The law must be ordered be ordered by a competent authority, the cause of the war must be just, and the use of the war must have a right intention so that the end result of it is good and not evil. This means that people who use this law they use it depending on the situation. Just war involves decision to go to war and how to fight. I think war should be allowed in defense of others. The guidelines of people engaging in war as put by just in war guidelines are for good intentions, just cause and last resort. Defending the live of the innocent is about justice. The use of force by individuals to attack the innocent people in the society is an act of selflessness. There are occasions when the war can lead to better solution than sitting back. According to the just law theory, a person’s life is not an end in itself that it should be defended. Defending others in war is seen as a moral duty to serve

War may not be justified but it sometimes may become necessary, when a war is over ideas there is no stopping it, there is no way to take some ones beliefs away from them and the people that have opposing beliefs will always think they are right and will fight for their belief till either the very end or until they have convinced every single other person they are

War is controversial, unfortunate, and certainly misunderstood; it is a transforming agent, a catalyst for change. Nonetheless, many people focus on war's negative consequences, while positive effects are downplayed. War is a necessary evil in the sense that it stabilizes population, encourages technological advances, and has a very high economic value. Without war, the overpopulation of the human race is inevitable. It is this reason that war is a useful tool by not only Mother Nature, but also humans themselves to institute population control.

How can going to war be justified? In order to come to terms with making war, from the perspective of a Just War Theorist, the principles of justice in going to war must be defined. Justification in going to war is a topic which has shown up throughout the centuries and is commonly categorized as force to keep evil at bay through the means of a proper governing authority taking violent action, with right intentions, for a just cause. Deeply rooted in the scriptures of the Old Testament, this ethical position on war was founded by several Church Fathers, including Augustine of Hippo. According to these and other Just War Theorists, the criteria for using force are regarded as Jus ad Bellum, which is Latin meaning “right to war”. Traditionally, the main principles of Jus ad Bellum are proper authority, just cause, and right intention. Throughout the years, Thomas Aquinas, Darrell Cole, Jean Elshtain, and many others further articulated and formulated their ideas of “just” war based on the ideas laid out by the founding theologians.

Thus, according to the United Nations, the only way to justify conflict is through self-defence. However, the concept of just war is much deeper than

War has been a part of human culture since it's birth. It has led to a great many massacres and has shown us the evil that exists within the souls of humanity. Some have even gone as far as saying that war is human nature. To better understand the reasons behind war and how it affects others, I've examined several different societies and cultures so as to better understand the necessity of war and see the cause of their external war attitude. To do so, different variables from two topics (military institutions and external war attitude) were matched up and crossed so as to look into the answers to these questions. The variables were then calculated and through these graphs, I was able to find different societies in which