Defence and strategy

Eva DUŘPEKTOVÁ*, Zdeněk KŘÍŽ**

War is a constant feature of human affairs and a permanent topic of ethical debates. Moral reasoning about war and peace known as just war theory has its roots in Christian ethics and is connected to positive international law. The theory is doubly critical – it serves as a tool for evaluating the justice of a state’s decision to go to war, as well as its conduct in particular warfare. The article uses the latter part of just war theory as an analytical tool for answering the question whether the allied conduct during the Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003 met the criteria of justice in war (jus in bello). Two main principles of jus in bello are discrimination and proportionality. These moral categories aim at reducing the damage and destruction incurred in war. The Operation Iraqi Freedom was conducted with awareness of the importance of these principles, because the U.S. Army used new weapon technologies, mainly precision-guided missiles, that reduced the casualties among Iraqi civilians.