Principles of the Just War
- A just war can only be waged as a last resort. All non-violent options
must be exhausted before the use of force can be justified.
- A war is just only if it is waged by a legitimate authority. Even just
causes cannot be served by actions taken by individuals or groups who do not
constitute an authority sanctioned by whatever the society and outsiders to
the society deem legitimate.
- A just war can only be fought to redress a wrong suffered. For example,
self-defense against an armed attack is always considered to be a just cause
(although the justice of the cause is not sufficient--see point #4).
Further, a just war can only be fought with "right" intentions:
the only permissable objective of a just war is to redress the injury.
- A war can only be just if it is fought with a reasonable chance of
success. Deaths and injury incurred in a hopeless cause are not morally
justifiable.
- The ulimate goal of a just war is to re-establish peace. More
specifically, the peace established after the war must be preferable to the
peace that would have prevailed if the war had not been fought.
- The violence used in the war must be proportional to the injury suffered.
States are prohibited from using force not necessary to attain the limited
objective of addressing the injury suffered.
- The weapons used in war must discriminate between combatants and
non-combatants. Civilians are never permissable targets of war, and every
effort must be taken to avoid killing civilians. The deaths of civilians are
justified only if they are unavoidable victims of a deliberate attack on a
military target.