Sample Essay 6

4 thoughts on “Sample Essay 6”

1. A pre-emptive war occurs when one state attacks another because they feel as if a threat is pending or inevitable. A preventive war differs in that there could be perceived danger from another state, but attacks are not imminent. The preventive war should occur earlier than a pre-emptive war, because the danger level has not yet escalated to the point of imminent fighting.

2. On the right track.

3. To further answer your question with the example about Iraq. I feel that even though the government and Media used “pre-empive War” in its language, Iraq should be considered a preventive war. The government told the American people that Saddam Hussein had or had the resources to produce weapons of mass destruction. However, no evidence was shown that Iraq was anywhere near ready to attack the United States. Even the people for the war brought up a hypothetical scenario of a mushroom cloud on our soil. Asking Congress if you want to take a chance that that scenario wul become reality. If the Iraq War was a pre-emptive War, then these people would have simply stated, In the next few weeks if we dont act, there will be mushroom cloud on our soil, leaving no doubt that an attack was imminent. Instead Iraq was a preventive War to take the leader out of power before he ever got the ability to attack us directly.

4. To build on the aforementioned points:
   The difference is that a preventive war is launched to destroy the potential threat of an enemy, when an attack by that party is not imminent or known to be planned, while a preemptive war is launched in anticipation of immediate enemy aggression. Most scholars equate preventive war with aggression, and therefore argue that it is illegitimate. The waging of a preemptive war has less stigma attached than does the waging of a preventive war. The initiation of armed conflict: that is being the first to ‘break the peace’ when no ‘armed attack’ has yet occurred, is not permitted by the UN Charter, unless authorized by the UN Security Council as an enforcement action. As this is the case, it could be argued that the US invasion of Iraq was preemptive war in the sense that it was launched AFTER the US percieved an attack by an enemy. However, the preemptiveness of the war could be questioned because the US justified the war using the defense that Iraq was building up weapons supplies to launch an attack, but this proved to actually not be the case and evidence was brought to light that the US knew all along that this was not the case and just needed some form of justification for attack on Iraq– this constitutes aggression and therefore preventative war.

   –Jenny Jarboe

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