Wednesday, May 13, 2015

"Just" War

CNN. "Special Report: Who Are The Yazidis, And Why Does ISIS Want To Kill Them? (PHOTOS) - The Trent." The Trent. N.p., 12 Aug. 2014. Web. 13 May 2015. 

For my Policy course, we were assigned to select a war to focus on, research policies and (executive) orders related to that war, and write an analytical essay arguing whether that war was “right” or “wrong”. The purpose of this action project was to take a specific position on whether the U.S involvement in a specific war was justified or not. This action project is particularly difficult on an ethical ground because Is there a difference between a “right” war and a “wrong” war? How do we distinguish between the two? Is there such a thing as a “just” war? The merriam-webster defines just as having a basis in or conforming to fact or reason, acting or being in conformity with what is morally upright or good, righteous, and legally correct.

The majority of people believe that killing, fighting, and war is wrong, but might agree that in some situations it is necessary. When is war just? Philosophers, statesmen, and justices have grappled with this question for centuries, beginning with the first Mesopotamians to the Greeks (History of the world, Wiki). “The just war theory or the jus ad bellum is a doctrine, also referred to as a tradition, of military ethics studied by theologians, ethicists, policymakers, and military leaders (just war theory, Wiki). The just war theory has become basis for international agreements like the Geneva Convention and modern humanitarian laws. The Geneva Convention of 1864 was the first treaty concerning humanitarian aid in wartime. It extensively defined the basic rights of wartime prisoners, established protection for the wounded, and established protections for civilians in and around a war-zone (Wiki).

According to the “just war theory”, was America justified in declaring war on Japan and subsequently on Germany and Italy? This essay will attempt to prove that the U.S involvement in World War 2 was a just one. On Friday September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland which marked the start of World war 2. The global war lasted from 1939 to 1945, it involved the majority of the world’s nations, including all the great powers. WW2 formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. Germany, Italy, Japan were the Axis. The U.S, Britain, France, Australia, China, and the Soviet Union were the Allies.

The jus ad bellum sets forth 6 requirements, all of which must be met for a war to be considered “just”. Using 2 requirements set forth by jus ad bellum, I will attempt to prove that the U.S. involvement in World War 2 war just.
  • Just cause. “Just cause is first and foremost the self-defense of a nation that is physically and aggressively attacked by another nation”(). “Although the war began with Nazi Germany’s attack on Poland in September 1939, the United states did not enter the war until after the Japanese bombed the American fleet in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941” (World war 2). Almost at the same time, Japanese airplanes attack two U.S islands: Wake and Guam, which were later occupied. In December 08, 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared war on Japan. The United States exhausted all plausible and peaceful alternatives to resolve the conflict in question. In an effort to remain neutral, In July 1940 the U.S cuts off oil exports to Japan after Japanese troops began to occupy the French colony of Indochina (National Geographic). In September 1940, Germany, Italy, and Japan signed a treaty (the Tripartite Pact) that made the three countries allies against England and France (National Geographic). The treaty is seen as a warning to the U.S to stop helping England and France, because the U.S had traded 50 old destroyers to England in exchange for naval and air bases in the Western Hemisphere (National Geographic). By July 1940, Germany had invaded Norway, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and conquered France. The United States was physically and aggressively attacked by Japan, thus abiding to the just cause requirements of the jus ad bellum. 
  • Right intentions. The nation that wages war must do so for the right motives, that is, just to ensure that the just cause is attained by war’s end. The U.S entrance in World war 2 was motivated by morally rational motives. “Hitler's germany was extending totalitarianism, racism, militarism, and overt aggressive warfare beyond what an already cynical world had experienced,” (World War II: A People's War? - Howard Zinn). World war 2 was a war against an enemy of unspeakable evil. Universal goods expected to result from of the war was proportional to the cost the war proceeded. 

Though, the U.S entrance in the war and the WW2 itself was just, our country’s wartime policies, and treatment of minorities at home casted shadows on that principle. Franklin D. Roosevelt converted America’s economy into a military economy and the unemployment problem ended with the mobilization for war. FDR took part in the Atlantic Charter, and executive actions, but Congress had it’s own agenda. Congress passed the Lend-Leases Act. “The act authorized the president to transfer arms or any other defense materials for which Congress appropriated money to “the government of any country whose defense the President deems vital to the defense of the United States” (History).

In a WW2 espionage scare frenzy, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, encouraged by officials at all levels of the federal government authorized the internment American citizens of Japanese ancestry and resident aliens from Japan (Historymatters). Roosevelt’s executive order 9066, ‘“authorized the evacuation of all persons deemed a threat to national security from the West Coast to relocation centers further inland,” (Archives.gov). Executive order 9066 was unconstitutional and discriminative. Executive order 9066 went against the Bills of rights and violated a U.S law: the incarceration of U.S citizens without due process of the law. The executive order fueled hatred and prejudice towards Japanese Americans and went against the law. In 1988, President Jimmy Carter issued a $20,000 reparation to each surviving internee.

War’s controversial social effects raises troubling ethical/moral question for any thoughtful person, yet it remains central to social changes and human history which seems extremely paradoxical. I am not certain if anything makes a war "just" but the just war theory is a way in which we can make sure that a war is justified.


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