Just War Theory

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‘Warfare has been infused with some moral concerns from the beginning rather than war being a mere Macbethian bloodbath” (Moseley, 2009). The Just war theory is a set of mutually agreed rules of conflict, generally involving two culturally related enemies that share similar values and beliefs. However, when these enemies differ due to cultural and religious beliefs the enemy can be viewed as ‘less than human’ and the ‘moral rules’ of the just war theory become overlooked (Moseley, 2009). These mutually agreed rules are old as warfare itself. History indicates that moral concerns influenced warrior’s decisions to limit the potential damage of war. In addition, certain acts during warfare were considered honorable, while others were seen as dishonorable (e.g. the killing of innocent man, woman and child). However, what is viewed as honorable or dishonorable is specific to religion and culture (Moseley, 2009). This can be the case when referring to terrorist groups. Al-Qaeda is a stateless group of Islamic radicals involved in the horrific attacks on New York City on September 11, 2001 (Lutz, 2005). These atrocious acts on an innocent population instigated the ‘war on terror’ and caused the deployment of American, British and Australian troops into Middle Eastern territories. Although the morals of war have been present since the beginning of contemporary conflict, it wasn’t until the 13th century that British philosopher Saint Thomas Aquinas constructed the general outline of the traditional Just War Theory that is studied today (Moseley, 2009). According to Aquinas, the principles for engaging in warfare is that the cause of the war must be just, it can only be initiated by those who obtain proper authority and responsibility, the moral merit of our own outweighs the enemies, the intention of war is to restore peace, all non-violent alternatives must be tried,

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