Katie Lynch

Mr. Campbell
Honors Religion 12
January 3, 2019
Atomic Bombs and the Just War Theory
The Just War Theory is a set of guidelines that determines if a war is just by following a

certain outline of ethics. It is important to have a set of guidelines like this to ensure that even

during combat, parties are treating one another humanely. St. Augustine is credited with the

creation of the theory by everyone except Islamic tradition, which has its own theory based on

the Koran. St. Augustine lived during the fall of Rome to other powers, so identifying the moral

aspects of war was important to him. He wrote the basis of the four criteria while Thomas

Aquinas elaborated on them (“Augustine: Just War”).

The Catechism outlines the Just War Doctrine as the following:

1. The damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be
lasting, grave, and certain;
2. All other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or
ineffective;
3. There must be serious prospects of success;
4. The use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be
eliminated. The power of modern means of destruction weighs very heavily in evaluating
this condition [CCC 2309].

The Just War Doctrine is basically to provide leaders of countries with some rules to help

them consider whether to enter a war and how to act within it. Of course, no country is denied

self-defense. However, once a war is begun, even if a country was brought in on the basis of self-

defense, leaders should be clearly aware of the Just War Doctrine. Former President Obama

stated his foreign policy ideas to West Point in this quote:

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The United States will use military force, unilaterally if necessary, […] when our people
are threatened; when our livelihoods are at stake; when the security of our allies is in
danger […] In these circumstances, we still need to ask tough questions about whether
our actions are proportional and effective and just.
Here, he identified the ideals of the Just War Theory, which is commonly “studied by

theologians, heads of state, philosophers and military leaders alike” (Emba). There are two parts

of the Just War Theory that Former President Obama addressed in his quote stated above; the

first is Jus in bello and the second is Jus post bellum. The former deals with if entering a war is

just in the first place and the latter deals with correct conduct within the war (Emba). In the

quote, he states the country will only use military force if necessary and for self-defense or

defense of allies. He then goes on to say that actions within war need to be questioned to ensure

proportionality and justice. This does not speak for all leaders, but this is proof at least one of our

presidents has identified the Just War Theory and used it in his diplomacy.

A common question when discussing the Just War Theory is if the American bombing of

Japan to end the Pacific-front battle of World War II was just. Now, it has to be remembered that

America was brought into this war only after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, the first and only time

we have been attacked on our own soil. The attacks on Pearl Harbor were a surprise, but war had

been a growing possibility between Japan and the United States. Japan had been attempting to

expand into China by brutally invading, and the United States cut Japan off from their oil supply

in an effort to hinder their violent expansion. Instead, Japan attacked the United States. Thus,

self-defense led to war.

The dropping of atomic bombs on Japan’s two civilian cities occurred after Japan had

clearly lost the war; May 8, 1945 marked VE Day, Victory in Europe, where the Allies accepted

Germany’s surrender, and August 14, 1945 marked VJ Day, when Japan finally surrendered. The

three month period in between Europe’s surrender and Japan’s surrender was Japan’s decision to
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keep fighting despite already having lost. President Harry S Truman was faced with a decision:

invade mainland Japan, continue conventional bombing of Japanese cities, or use what he

described as “the most terrible bomb in the history of the world.”

Based on several calculations, the casualties of U.S. soldiers would be a number far too

high for the president to spare. In the battle on the island of Okinawa, 35% of soldiers and sailors

lost their lives. Truman was unwilling to risk that again on the mainland. As for conventional

bombing, Japan refused to surrender even after a firebombing of Tokyo killed more than 80,000

people (“Harry S Truman’s Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb”). So that is out of the question.

To make Japan surrender, Truman’s strategy was to do the extreme.

An atomic bomb was dropped on the civilian city of Hiroshima where 80,000 people

were directly killed, 35,000 injured, and another 60,000 died from effects. Three days later,

Nagasaki was bombed. On August 14, 1945, Japan finally surrendered (“Harry S Truman’s

Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb”).

Time to dive into the morality of these bombings using the Just War Theory. The first

point questions the damage – the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were especially lasting,

grave, and certain. Check on that. The second point questions the use of other means. As

previously mentioned, other bombings were used and proved ineffective. The surrender of

Japan’s allies was even ineffective. Other means had certainly been used. The third point

questions the prospect of success. Although there was no way to know, Truman made the

extreme decision because it was extreme, and he hoped it would frighten Japan enough to give

up. Plus, he was looking out for American lives. Finally, the fourth point questions the severity

of the arms used. For example, mustard gas is banned in warfare because of its unusually cruel

and disgusting effects. As for atomic bombs, the effects of such bombings exist to this day.
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People were unable to live there for decades. Japan was particularly brutal and aggressive in

World War II. It attacked America over being cut off from oil. It attacked China before the war,

particularly in the Nanjing Massacre or the Rape of Nanjing, because of Japanese troops’ raping

and murdering of Chinese civilians. The cause of the war in the Pacific was due to "Injustice,

excessive economic or social inequalities, envy, distrust, and pride raging among men and

nations[…] Everything done to overcome these disorders contributes to building up peace and

avoiding war" [CCC 2317] (Donovan). War was unable to be avoided in this situation, due to

Japan’s actions.

Does this justify the dropping of atomic bombs, though? Japan certainly was an evil that

needed to be eliminated. It was clear they would not give up. Only after the atomic bombs did

Japan surrender. For this reason, it is my opinion that the atomic bombs were necessary and just.

Countries go to war to win. The atomic bomb saved American lives and won the war for

America. I am unsure where patriotism’s role is in the Just War Theory, but as soldiers can be

both passionate for their country and the Catholic faith, I believe it does play a part in the theory.

Truman’s priority of saving American lives is a justifiable and honorable decision. It is

unfortunate that even after American’s atomic bomb was harmlessly tested and Japan’s cities

were warned via the dropping of leaflets, the bombs were the last resort, but it was efficacious. It

resulted in what it intended.

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Works Cited

“Augustine: Just War.” Interpersonal Relationship Communication Theories. Great

Philosophers,

oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl201/modules/Philosophers/Augustine/augustine_justwar.html.

Donovan, Colin B. “What Is Just War?” EWTN.

https://www.ewtn.com/expert/answers/just_war.htm.

Emba, Christine. “Just War Theory: A primer.” Washington Post. 30 Nov. 2015.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/in-theory/wp/2015/11/30/just-war-theory-a-

primer/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.80c2c3211ce2

History.com Editors. “Pearl Harbor.” HISTORY. 7, Dec. 2018.

https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor

National Park Service. “Harry S Truman’s Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb.” 25, Oct. 2017.

https://www.nps.gov/articles/trumanatomicbomb.htm