Before attempting to justify warfare, we first have to assess the term justice and its significance in warfare. Justice is crucial in this discussion because it has taken over from religion as a basis for moral judgement when fighting a war. Historically, medieval Christian ethics were the justifications for warfare, as was apparent throughout the Crusades. Justice became the highest moral value after the conflict between Christ as a pacifist and the fight to spread Christianity. From this stemmed the principles of the just war tradition. …
