THE PRINCIPLES OF A JUST WAR THEORY.A PHILOSOPHICAL GUIDELINE:
To judge whether a war is morally justified as an unavoidable evil, the following principles ought to be considered.1.The War must be declared to safeguard a common good and not the private interest of the leader. 2. The danger must be real, not imaginary. 3. The gains envisaged from the war must be greater than the losses. 4. The war must be declared as a last resort to failure in diplomatic attempts, after a peaceful resolution of the conflict. 5. The lives of non-belligerents like children, women members of diplomatic corps and Prisoners of war POW should be the rule,6. The use of conventional weapons should be the norm. 7. The terms of the Geneva Convention in relation to non-use of biological weapon.8.The war must be declared by a competent or legitimate authority.9.When declaring the war, the leader declaring the war should tell the envisaged day that the war will end. 10. When the envisaged day given by the beligegerent leader comes and passes without the war ending, the one who declared the war should commit suicide. NB. IF ONE OF THE ABOVE PRINCIPLES IS NOT ABIDING, THE WAR MUST NOT BE DECLARED.
Bawe Louis
