CRANFIELD UNIVERSITY DAREN BOWYER JUST WAR DOCTRINE

lack of clear justification for the war damaged the President and threatened his 2004 re-
election. The issue dominated the first of three televised debates between George Bush
and his Democrat opponent John Kerry. Whilst defending the right of the US to act
unilaterally and pre-emptively, Kerry stressed the need for legitimacy:
No president…has ever ceded, and nor would I, the right to pre-empt in any way
necessary to protect the United States of America.
But if and when you do it … you have to do it in a way that passes the test, that
passes the global test where your countrymen, your people understand fully why
you’re doing what you’re doing and you can prove to the world that you did it
for legitimate reasons. 188
Kerry also made much of the cost to the US of having to act largely alone by failing to
pull together an international coalition: ‘After insulting allies and shredding alliances,
this president may not have the trust and confidence to bring others to our side in
Iraq.’ 189
Well before the US election campaign started, commentators were noting the damage
that had been done to the hawkish wing of the US administration:
The conservative think-tanks that last year trumpeted America’s new muscular
approach are having to spend more time defending the war in Iraq than
proposing the next bold step. And while the administration has not abandoned
its talk of reshaping the world, since January it has faced a much more sceptical
audience. 190
Nor was George Bush any more immune than Tony Blair from challenges to his moral
standing. Even before military action had been taken in Iraq, the US Conference of
Catholic Bishops, in an open letter, argued that the impending action would fall
considerably short of just war criteria. 191
Beyond the damage that may be done to a particular leader, government or political
party, there is also the danger that engagement in an unjustified (or not widely perceived
as justified) conflict will do wider damage to government and the institutions of
democracy in general. In September 2004 The Committee on Standards in Public Life
published a report on public attitudes towards conduct in public life. 192 The survey
found that just 28% of respondents thought Government Ministers told the truth, and
there was widespread distrust of Government. Of those respondents who said their
126