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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
What Are America’S Obligations To Iraq After An Unjust War?, Brian Stiltner
What Are America’S Obligations To Iraq After An Unjust War?, Brian Stiltner
Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications
Since the goal of a just war is to restore a political condition of peace and justice, and since allowing a just war is always a mournful concession to the reality of injustice, a country that wins a war has post-bellum obligations to advance the common good within the losing nation and among the community of nations. It has the moral duty to make up for the damage it has caused, even if it was justified in causing that damage. (Note that the idea of a "just" war is not that war is a good in itself, but that it …
Rethinking The Iraq War, Brian Stiltner
Rethinking The Iraq War, Brian Stiltner
Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications
The reasonable possibility of the situation getting worse [in Iraq] rather than better should have given humanitarian advocates for war, like myself, greater pause. For me at that time, this humanitarian motive bolstered what was weak in the weapons argument, and vice versa. But now I realize that a partial case for war because of the weapons risk and a partial case for war under humanitarian reasons don't add up to an air-tight case for just war. Each of the causes proffered has to be reasonable with little doubt-something like 90 to 95 percent certain-and they can't be undermined by …
The Justice Of War On Iraq, Brian Stiltner
The Justice Of War On Iraq, Brian Stiltner
Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications
The author argues that the U.S. and its partners have rightly arrived at war on Iraq as a just and necessary last resort. The potential problems with the just-war case are notable, particularly concerning the after-effects of the war, but they do not incurably undermine the case for going to war. Instead, both supporters and critics of the war around the world should strive to keep their governments committed to post-war reconstruction and a transition to a free and stable government in Iraq. Several just war criteria, particularly as these are articulated in the Catholic tradition, are used to assess …