| abstract |
For as long as there have been people, there have been hostilities between them. As civilization evolved and people organized into collectives, leaders rose, and nation-states emerged. Conflicts between nation-states gave birth to war. Even in ancient times, concurrent with the inevitable bloodshed produced by war, leaders argued for rules to govern the death and destruction they were causing. In some cultures, religion played a vital role in determining who, what, when, why, and how one nation would attack another. In others, good vs. evil, and right vs. wrong, dominated the debate regarding the justice of war.
War is, and has always been, viewed as a necessary instrument to achieve a myriad of different political, economic, religious, and personal objectives, and as such, it is good that rules be set to govern its inevitability. But does war have to be inevitable? Why should people die in defense of borders or ideals set up by politicians whose motives can be, at best, questionable? Are there avenues leaders can travel to avert bloodshed? Is there a fair way to wage war?
Less than a month after the attacks of September 11th, President George W. Bush declared the commencement of a Global War on Terror (GWOT). The President did not identify a nation-state as America's adversary, rather, he identified all present and future terrorist organizations, specifically the group that claimed responsibility for the September 11 attacks, al Qaeda. To create an air of credibility for his declaration of war against a theoretical adversary, he formed a coalition of the willing (and arguably not so willing) nations to help vanquish al Qaeda as well as all terrorist organizations identified as the enemies to freedom. These enemies shared at least one common trait: they followed Islam. This war differed from previous wars as the coalition would spend most of its effort fighting groups rather than nations.
This research will analyze the origins of the just war theory, or just war tradition. Moreover, the purpose and intent of two other wars in which the United States has been involved will be examined to display how distant GWOT was in comparison to historical US policies on war. Also, to demonstrate the interdisciplinary nature of this war, both religious and political ideals related to just war theory are presented extensively. In conclusion, this research ratiocinates, in the sum of all its pieces, that GWOT was not a just war.
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