Case 6-1: The Ethics of the Persian Gulf War

Introduction There was a major dispute between Iraq and Kuwait, which facilitated war between the two countries. Iraq was more powerful and wanted to take control over Kuwait in order to exploit the oil revenue generated from the country. This would help the country in covering the large public debt that had frustrated economic performance of the country. However, the international community led by the United States attacked Iraq in efforts to liberate Kuwait. They succeeded but the move was unethical because of the application of excessive force and destruction of public infrastructure in Iraq. It is the duty of international community to facilitate peaceful coexistence among people of different nations but diplomatic methods to settle disputes should be used and not military expeditions. This essay analyzes Iraq-Kuwait case using the just war theory. Facts of the Case The case presents major facts. First, there was a major dispute between Iraq and her neighboring country Kuwait. This dispute was mainly based on economic matters in which Iraq wanted to forfeit the $ 10 billion debt to Kuwait and expand her oil reservoirs. Another fact in the case is that Iraq had a powerful military force in the Middle East region and Saddam Hussein wanted to take advantage of this to attack Kuwait. It is a fact that international community had attempted to use peaceful methods to settle the dispute between Iraq and Kuwait but Saddam Hussein would not be changed on his plans to attack Kuwait through the military. It is a fact that there was need to liberate Kuwait from Iraq because she did not have the power to defend her citizens against the powerful Iraq. Ethical Issues in the Case Several ethical issues arise in the case. First, it was unethical for Iraq to direct all her misfortunes to the neighboring country Kuwait (Amstutz, 2013, p. 114). Iraq was suffering from poor economic performance and an outstanding public debt of $ 80 billion. Attacking Kuwait in order to ex...