day no. 15,112: jus ad bellum and jus in bello per MCDP 1-1

"If you decide to fight, you also have to decide to win." - Luther (2003 Film) 

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JUST WAR
Traditionally, Western societies have demanded two things of their strategic leaders in war. First is success, which contributes to security and societal well-being. Second is a sense of being in the right, a belief that the cause for which the people are called to sacrifice is a just one. Strategists must be able to reconcile what is necessary with what is just. The "just war" theory provides a set of criteria that can help to reconcile these practical and moral considerations.

Just war theory has two components, labeled in Latin jus ad bellum (literally, "rightness in going to war") and jus in bello ("rightness in the conduct of war"). There are seven jus ad bellum criteria:

• Just Cause. A just cause involves the protection and preservation of value. There are three such causes: defense of self or of others against attack, retaking of something wrongly taken by force, and punishment of concrete wrongs done by an evil power.

• Right Authority. The person or body authorizing the war must be a responsible representative of a sovereign political entity.

• Right Intention. The intent in waging war must truly be just and not be a selfish aim masked as a just cause. 

• Proportionality of Ends. The overall good achieved by the resort to war must not be outweighed by the harm it produces.

• Last Resort. We must show that there is no logical alternative to violence.

• Reasonable Hope of Success. There can be neither moral nor strategic justification for resorting to war when there is no hope of success.

• The Aim of Peace. Ends for which a war is fought must include the establishment of stability and peace.