The Law of War

war, whether for offense or defense, are equally blameworthy, and to be condemned, is
not only unreasonable, it is inexcusably unjust.
Ending A War: Jus Post Bellum
In recent years, some theorists, such as Gary Bass, Louis Iasiello and Brian Orend,
have proposed a third category within Just War theory. Jus post bellum concerns justice
after a war, including peace treaties, reconstruction, environmental remediation, war
crimes trials, and war reparations. Jus post bellum has been added to deal with the fact
that some hostile actions may take place outside a traditional battlefield. Jus post
bellum governs the justice of war termination and peace agreements, as well as the
prosecution of war criminals, and publicly labeled terrorists. This idea has largely been
added to help decide what to do if there are prisoners that have been taken during
battle. It is, through government labeling and public opinion, that people use jus post
bellum to justify the pursuit of labeled terrorist for the safety of the government's state in
a modern context. The actual fault lies with the aggressor, so by being the aggressor
they forfeit their rights for honorable treatment by their actions. This is the theory used
to justify the actions taken by anyone fighting in a war to treat prisoners outside of war.
Actions after a conflict can be warranted by actions observed during war, meaning that
there can be justification to meet violence with violence even after war. Orend, who was
one of the theorist mentioned earlier, proposes the following principles:
Just Cause for Termination
A state may terminate a war if there has been a reasonable vindication of the rights that
were violated in the first place, and if the aggressor is willing to negotiate the terms of
surrender. These terms of surrender include a formal apology, compensations, war
crimes trials and perhaps rehabilitation.
Alternatively, a state may end a war if it becomes clear that any just goals of the war
cannot be reached at all or cannot be reached without using excessive force.
Right Intention
A state must only terminate a war under the conditions agreed upon in the above
criteria. Revenge is not permitted. The victor state must also be willing to apply the
same level of objectivity and investigation into any war crimes its armed forces may
have committed.
Public Declaration and Authority
The terms of peace must be made by a legitimate authority, and the terms must be
accepted by a legitimate authority.
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