JUS AD BELLUM The conditions required for going to war.

1. JUST AUTHORITY: A just war must be initiated by a political authority within a political system that
allows distinctions of justice.
Did the U.S. have the authority to declare war? Also, is the U.S. government good enough to justify going to
war to fight a bad government?
2. JUST CAUSE: War is permissible only to confront "a real and certain danger," i.e., to protect innocent
life, to preserve conditions necessary for decent human existence, and to secure basic human rights.
Did the U.S. have a good reason to declare war? Was there a danger to innocent life or basic human rights if
they didnt declare war? Was the U.S. attacked unprovoked?
3. JUST INTENTION: The act of going to war is to pursue the just cause. During the conflict, right
intention means pursuit of peace and reconciliation, including avoiding unnecessarily destructive acts or
imposing unreasonable conditions (e.g., unconditional surrender).
Did the U.S. intend to go to war to pursue the just cause? In other words, did the U.S. go to war to protect
innocent life and preserve human rights, or because they were attacked unprovoked, or for another reason?
4. LAST RESORT: War is morally permissible only when no other means to achieving the Just Cause is
possible. This means that the nation considering war has exhausted all potential solutions, including
political and diplomatic.
Did the U.S. go to war as the last option, after they had tried everything else?
JUS IN BELLO The conditions required for just conduct during the war.
1. PROPORTIONALITY. The proportionality of the use of force in a war. Proportionality means that the
damage to be inflicted and the costs incurred by war must be proportionate to the good you are expected
to achieve by entering the war.
During the war, did the U.S. inflict damage that was proportional to the good they wanted to achieve?
2. DISCRIMINATION. The combatants discriminate between combatants and noncombatants. Innocent,
nonmilitary people should never be made the target of attacks.
Did the U.S. discriminate between military and civilian targets?
3. RESPONSIBILITY. Unexpected side effects of wartime activity are ok if they meet the following 3
criteria:
(a) The action was intended to produce good consequences
(b) The bad effects were not intended.
(c) The good of the war must outweigh the damage done by it.
Did the U.S. intend to produce good consequences and not bad ones? Did the good of WWII outweigh the
damage done?


Things to keep in mind:
Pearl Harbor/ Pres Roosevelts declaration of War
Hitlers concentration camps
High casualties throughout the war
Dresden
Hiroshima/Nagasaki
Iwo Jima/Okinawa
U.S. wanted unconditional surrender of Japan