The Waging of the 2003 U.S. Led Iraq War: A Catholic Just War Assessment

Abstract

This essay is an exercise in moral reasoning applying abstract Catholic just war principles, in particular, the principle of just cause, to the justice of the Iraq War begun in March 2003. It begins by setting forth a contemporary formulation of the principle of just cause. It then provides an original interpretation of the canons by which the principle should be applied in concrete situations. It then applies the interpretation to facts relevant to the decision of the Bush administration to go to war with Iraq. It concludes that, given facts known prior to the March 2003 invasion, the choice to go to war failed to meet normative moral conditions for concluding that a choice to go to war is morally legitimate.