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Just War Theory

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During President Richard Nixon’s term, he advocated for “Vietnamization,” to remove American troops and allow South Vietnam a larger role in rising against the Communist North (“Overview of the Vietnam War”). Nixon’s method to stall the influx of North Vietnamese soldiers and supplies into South Vietnam by directing American troops to terminate Communist supply bases in Cambodia. This defied Cambodian neutrality and consequently provoked a national outcry. Shortly after the Tet Offensive, the My Lai massacre struck when Charlie’s Company, a unit of the American Division's 11th Infantry Brigade arrived in My Lai on a search and destroy mission to root out 48th Viet Cong Battalion (“My Lai Massacre”). They did not find what they were looking for, but instead of clearing the area, the U.S. soldiers decided to execute 504 of the 700 My Lai inhabitants in gruesome manners. Vietnamese women were raped while other noncombatants were clubbed and stabbed. Some victims were ruthlessly mutilated with the signature "C Company" carved into their chest (“My Lai Massacre”). Unfortunately, this was not the end of their display of evil. The 11th Brigade made an effort to cover-up their war crimes by …show more content…

According to the Just War theory, just war is separated into two domains. First is the motivation behind entering war, and second is the means used during warfare (Hu, 2). The first judgment signifies justice of war, or jus ad bellum that evaluates the terms of a just versus unjust war. The second signifies justice in war, or jus in bello, which essentially measures whether or not the ends justify the means. The relationship between jus ad bellum and jus in bello are independent of each other, meaning that even if the war passes the judgment of one area, it does not imply justification for the other

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