Right now, A full scale declaration of war. Would it be a ‘just war’?
JUS AD BELLUM The conditions required for justly going to war; the right to go to war.
JUST AUTHORITY: The first condition in Just War Theory is Just Authority, also known as Competent Authority. A just war must be initiated by a political authority within a political system that allows distinctions of justice. Dictatorships (i.e. Hitler’s Regime) or a deceptive military actions (i.e. the 1968 US bombing of Cambodia) are typically considered as violations of this criterion. The importance of this condition is key. Plainly, we cannot have a genuine process of judging a just war within a system that represses the process of genuine justice. A just war must be initiated by a political authority within a political system that allows distinctions of justice.
JUST CAUSE: This is the central condition for many discussions over the justification of a war. If a Just Cause cannot be shown, many people will reject the call to war. Now, almost all nations and leaders who wage war claim to do so on the basis of a Just Cause. Iraq, for instance, explicitly claimed to have a Just Cause in its 1990 invasion of Kuwait. It is not enough to simply claim to have a Just Cause. We must be able to show that some wrong has been committed by one nation for which war is the proper redress by another. Unprovoked aggression, such as an invasion, fits clearly within the criteria of a Just Cause. Few would deny a nation the right to defend itself against unprovoked attack. The defense of an ally against an aggressor is also generally considered a clear Just Cause.
JUST INTENTION: The Just Intention (or Right Intention) condition in Just War Theory sets a limit to the extent of the war. Even given a Just Authority and a Just cause, it is possible for a warring state to go beyond the bounds of its justification. In the 1991 Gulf War against Iraq, the coalition forces led by the US stopped short of invading and occupying Baghdad. In answer to the criticisms of this action, US military leaders pointed out that the Just Cause and sole objective of the war was to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi occupation. Having achieved that objective, the limit of the justification for prosecution of the war had been reached and a ceasefire was negotiated. Calls to occupy Iraq, assassinate Saddam Hussein, or use nuclear weapons clearly exceeded the authority of the US and UN action. A just war is limited to the pursuit of the avowed just cause. A just war is limited to the pursuit and securing of the Just Cause.
LAST RESORT: War is morally permissible only when no other means to achieving the Just Cause is possible. This means that the nation considering war has exhausted all potential solutions, including political and diplomatic. This condition seems to mitigate against the national pride that sometimes leads to war as the resort of choice. A nation may have to compromise and negotiate to win solution short of war. But at least, the condition of last resort requires that political and diplomatic approaches to a solution have been fully attempted.