Was the United States morally justified in going to war against Iraq?
I think just war theory gives us an answer. The theory says a preemptive attack against a state is justified only if that state presents a substantial danger that is “immediate and imminent.” That is, to meet this criterion, an attack by an aggressor nation must be in the final planning stages—an attack must not be merely feared, but about to happen. If invading Iraq were justified, there would have been clear indications of Iraq’s final preparations to attack the United States. But there were no such indications. There was only a fan- tasy about Iraq’s having weapons of mass destruc- tion, and in the Bush administration, there was only the fear that the Iraqis were up to no good. In addi- tion, because there was no serious attempt by the United States to try to find a peaceful solution, the war was premature and therefore unjust. Most news accounts at the time reveal that steps by the United States to head off war were halfhearted at best. Finally, the war was unjustified because it violated the moral standard that must be met by any war: The cause of the war must be just. Consequently we are forced to conclude that the war in Iraq was not morally justified.
The first step is to number all the statements for identification and underline any premise or conclusion indicator words. (Note: We count an if- then, or conditional, statement as one statement, and we count multiple statements in a compound sentence separately.) Next we search for the con- clusion and draw a double line under it. Locating the conclusion can then help us find the premises, which we tag by underlining them. The marked- up passage then should look like this:
(1) In 2003 the United States attacked Iraq and thereby started a war. (2) President Bush justified his decision
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to go to war by saying that the action was necessary to preempt Iraq from launching a military strike against the United States. (3) But the obvious ques- tion about the war has hardly been addressed and rarely answered: Was the United States morally justi- fied in going to war against Iraq? (4) I think just war theory gives us an answer. (5) The theory says a pre- emptive attack against a state is justified only if that state presents a substantial danger that is “immediate and imminent.” (6) That is, to meet this criterion, an attack by an aggressor nation must be in the final planning stages—an attack must not be merely feared, but about to happen. (7) If invading Iraq were justified, there would have been clear indications of Iraq’s final preparations to attack the United States. (8) But there were no such indications. (9) There was only a fantasy about Iraq’s having weapons of mass destruction, (10) and in the Bush administration, there was only the fear that the Iraqis were up to no good. (11) In addition, because there was no serious attempt by the United States to try to find a peaceful solution, the war was premature and therefore unjust. (12) Most news accounts at the time reveal that steps by the United States to head off war were halfhearted at best. (13) Finally, the war was unjustified because it violated the moral standard that must be met by any war: The cause of the war must be just. (14) Con- sequently we are forced to conclude that the war in Iraq was not morally justified.
A key reason for diagramming is to distinguish the premises and conclusions from everything else: background information, redundancies, asides, clar- ifications, illustrations, and any other material that is logically irrelevant to the argument (or argu- ments). So the next step is to cross out these irrel- evancies, like this:
(1) In 2003 the United States attacked Iraq and thereby started a war that continues to this day. (2) President Bush justified his decision to go to war by saying that the action was necessary to preempt Iraq from launching a military strike against the United States. (3) But the obvious question about the war has hardly been addressed and rarely answered: Was the United States morally justified in going to war against Iraq? (4) I think just war theory gives us an answer. (5) The theory says a preemptive attack
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against a state is justified only if that state presents a substantial danger that is “immediate and immi- nent.” (6) That is, to meet this criterion, an attack by an aggressor nation must be in the final planning stages—an attack must not be merely feared, but about to happen. (7) If invading Iraq were justified, there would have been clear indications of Iraq’s final preparations to attack the United States. (8) But there were no such indications. (9) There was only a fantasy about Iraq’s having weapons of mass destruction, (10) and in the Bush administration, there was only the fear that the Iraqis were up to no good. (11) In addition, because there was no serious attempt by the United States to try to find a peaceful solution, the war was premature and therefore unjust. (12) Most news accounts at the time reveal that steps by the United States to head off war were halfhearted at best. (13) Finally, the war was unjustified because it violated the moral standard that must be met by any war: The cause of the war must be just. (14) Con- sequently we are forced to conclude that the war in Iraq was not morally justified.
We now can see that most of this passage is log- ically extraneous material. Statements 1 through 6 are background information and introductory remarks. Statement 3, for example, is an assertion of the issue to be addressed in the passage. Statements 9 and 10 are embellishments of State- ment 8.
The premises and conclusion are asserted in Statements 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, and 14:
(7) If invading Iraq were justified, there would have been clear indications of Iraq’s final preparations to attack the United States. (8) But there were no such indications. (11) In addition, because there was no serious attempt by the United States to try to find a peaceful solution, the war was premature and therefore unjust. (12) Most news accounts at the time reveal that steps by the United States to head off war were half- hearted at best. (13) Finally, the war was unjustified because it vio- lated the moral standard that must be met by any war: The cause of the war must be just. (14) Consequently we are forced to conclude that the war in Iraq was not morally justified.