Iraqi War II: Countering Sterba’s arguments

Iraqi War II: Countering Sterba’s arguments Introduction Weapons of mass destruction are a threat to humanity and its civilization. In this regard, the United States took the bold step of ending Saddam Hussein’s regime that was developing such weapons. However, using the traditional just war theory, Sterba and other critics labeled U.S war against Saddam Hussein as a “blatant unjust war” that largely resulted into undesirable outcomes. Nevertheless, such conclusion is out of order since Saddam and some of his allies openly admitted to having those weapons. Consequently, it was necessary to disarm Saddam’s regime and avoid the worst. Therefore, using the act-utilitarian moral theory, this essay aim at rebutting Sterba’s reasoning. Ethical issues considered by Sterba Sterba’s position is largely influenced by the traditional just war theory. This theory indicates that there must be a just course for war to occur and only just means should be used during the fighting (Banta, p 266). In this case, the death of 172 soldiers and 3500 Iraqi civilians is a sign that the means of fighting were not just. On the other hand, the United States and her allies used fabricated information to make decisions prior to the war. For instance, the U.S and Britain believed that Iraq had nuclear weapons yet U. N agents reported that Iraq did not have such weapons after conducting numerous investigations (Sterba, p 646). In addition, during U. N voting session, the U.S and Britain coerced poor countries by threatening to cut off any funding if they voted against them. In fact, the U.S did not seek permission from the U.N Security Council to carry out the attack. Furthermore, the bombings that were conducted during the war destroyed major infrastructures in the country. Act-utilitarian theory Act-utilitarianism is based on the principle of utility; the greatest happiness for the maximum number. Therefore, any act is morally right if and only if it produces the best possible results in that specific situation (Petersen, p 1174). In the Iraqi War II, the potential destruction that would have resulted from nuclear weapons was a major concern for the United States and her allies. From U.S perspective, the net utility of the Iraqi invasion involved; preventing Iraq from attacking other regional states like Kuwait, preventing Saddam from hurting U.S and Britain citizens in that region, avoiding the destruction of Iraq’s infrastructure, avoiding a starvation scenario since Saddam was likely to cut off food distribution systems, and ultimately avoiding a humanitarian crisis in the region (Burton, p 633). On the other hand, critics based thei...