ABSTRACT
This chapter applies jus ad bellum principles in the just war tradition to the Bush administration's case for war against Iraq. Just war is grounded on the concept that war must be restrained and directed toward establishing a lasting peace. Just war is a living tradition because it is linked to theological, philosophical, and secular claims about violence and peace. The goal in this chapter is to tap this tradition, which at times allows for the use of force with limitations, in observing and assessing jus ad bellum considerations in the Bush administration's case for war against Iraq. The US-led invasion of Iraq is an attractive case to assess against the framework of just war theory. In the American case for war against Iraq, mechanisms short of war were clearly not sufficiently exhausted and the risks of inaction did not outweigh the risks of using force.
