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...20 with Australian naval, ground and air forces joining United States-led "Coalition of the Willing" in a short, successful operation that ended the rule of Saddam Hussein, was this country's most controversial military operation since the Vietnam War.
But them was a crucial difference between public reactions to Vietnam and Iraq; Vietnam was principally the subject of conscientious objection, Iraq was largely a focus for political dissent. To many, the Vietnam War was morally wrong (quite apart from the Commonwealth's reliance on conscription) whereas the Iraq conflict was simply a bad idea. Public protests against the planned invasion of Iraq and specific opposition to Australian participation lacked both clarity and consistency because there was no attempt at distinguishing conscientious objection from political dissent. This highlights the need for a continuing debate about the relationship between war and morality, and Australia's place in the world.
In many ways, this is a new debate. For more than 1500 years, the venerable just war tradition derived from Christian theological reflection has elucidated the moral problems associated with resorting to force and fighting wars in providing seven criteria by which a war might be deemed just in the light of certain moral ends. They can be readily summarised. First, the war must be undertaken by a legitimate authority; second, the cause must itself be just; third, the intention in resorting to force must be just rather than expedient; fourth, force can only be used after all other reasonable methods of negotiation have failed; fifth, there must be a reasonable hope of achieving a just outcome; sixth, the amount of force employed must be proportional to the threat being faced; and seventh, the outcome should bear a very close relationship to the cost....
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More articles from Quadrant
Anti-American chic.(Foreign Affairs), September 01, 2003
New constitutions--Japan and Iraq.(Foreign Affairs), September 01, 2003
The King and I.(Poetry)(Poem), September 01, 2003
The strange virtue of people-smuggling.(Society), September 01, 2003
A plea to Quadrant readers.(Editorial), September 01, 2003
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