Just War and the Gulf War (Hardcover)

by James Turner Johnson (Author), George Weigel (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Prior to military action in the Gulf War, the United States went through a remarkable national self-examination, a six-month-long debate over the ethics and politics of any possible U.S. response to Iraqi aggression in Kuwait. Politicians and op-ed columnists, talk-show hosts and their audiences, military officers and congressmen all entered the debate in terms frequently drawn from the venerable "just war" tradition-a calculus of moral reasoning whose roots go back to St. Augustine. Was ours a "just cause"? Who was the "competent authority" to authorize the use of armed force? How could we protect "non-combatant immunity"? Was Desert Storm a "last resort"? America's foremost historian of the just war tradition, James Turner Johnson, analyzes the decision to confront Iraq militarily and the actual conduct of the campaign according to the classic just war criteria. George Weigel surveys the involvement of America's religious leaders in the debate and their faithfulness to the classic just war principles.

About the Author
James Turner Johnson is Professor of Religion and Director of International Programs at Rutgers University. George Weigel is President of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington D.C. and the author of "A New Worldly Order" (1992).

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Ethics and Public Policy Center (December 11, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0896331660
• ISBN-13: 978-0896331662
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• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,916,736 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)