Preemptive War Vs. Pre Punishment

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UNITED STATES MILITARY ACADEMY ESSAY 2: PRE EMPTIVE WAR VS. PREPUNISHMENT PY201 SECTION STAP MAJ UNDERWOOD By CADET FELICIA SAFFOLD ’14, CO I4 WEST POINT, NEW YORK 1 JUNE 2011 FS MY DOCUMENT IDENTIFIES ALL SOURCES USED AND ASSISTANCE RECEIVED IN COMPLETING THIS ASSIGNMENT. ___ I DID NOT USE ANY SOURCES OR ASSISTANCE REQUIRING DOCUMENTATION IN COMPLETING THIS ASSIGNMENT. SIGNATURE: ___________________// SIGNED FELICIA SAFFOLD//_________________ The question being asked is if there is a difference between preemptive war and pre punishment. The first thing to look at is the definition of both terms. Christopher New discusses pre punishment and how it is similar to post punishment. He describes pre punishment as the act of punishing a person before they commit a crime. Michael Walzer talks about preemptive war being the act of going to war based on facts that an attack is imminent and literally about to happen. Now that there is a foundation given the basic definitions of the topics at hand we can begin to discuss whether or not there is a difference between pre punishment and preemptive war. Preemptive war and pre punishment are similar in that they both act first before an attack is made or a crime is committed. Based on my understanding of the readings thus far, I have come to the conclusion that there is a difference between pre punishment and pre emptive war. The main difference between the two is that preemptive war is in response to imminent aggression from another state while pre punishment is the act of punishing a person(s) for a crime they have been perceived of committing and have yet to commit. Michael Walzer describes preemptive war as an always justified war occurring to stop an imminent attack as opposed to sitting back and waiting to be attacked. Walzer gives an example by describing the Six Day War

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