The Korean and Vietnam wars were confusing to the American population for numerous
reasons. The American population was left wondering what the point of fighting was before,
during, and after each respective war. However, the Christian community had different concerns
about these wars. How did they hold up to the tenets of Christian Just War? While no war will
completely stand up to these tenets, the Korean and Vietnam wars were especially controversial.
These wars had prime examples of Jus Ad Bellum and Jus in Bello. Each war shared the jus ad
bellum of just cause and competent authorities. Likewise, both wars a jus in bellos by having a
high civilian death rate. However, the Vietnam War violated more tenets of war by not utilizing
the Last Resort, as well as chemical weapons. While neither war was perfect, the Vietnam War
conflicted more with Christian Just War tenets.
Korean War jus ad bellum
The Korean War satisfied most, if not all, and the Christian just war tenants of jus ad
bellum. At the beginning of this proxy war, North Korean and Soviet forces crossed the 38th
parallel and invaded South Korea. When the Soviets decided to invade, they cast the first
proverbial stone and justified the United States entering the war. This action alone would satisfy
most of the just war criteria, starting with Just Cause and Right Intention.
The United States had the goal of stopping communism and protecting South Korea when
they entered into the war. These two noble goals lined up perfectly with the previously
mentioned rules of war. When President Truman decided to enter the conflict he acted within the
tenant of Competent Authority, which stated that the proper authorities must be the ones to wage
war. On June 25th and June 27th, the United Nations called for a ceasefire and for all member
nations to assist the South Koreans and satisfy the Last Resort rule. 1 With four rules accounted
1 (Truman Library n.d.)
for it left only a few, these being Comparative Justice, Probability of Success, and
Proportionality.
The presence of communist aggression in Korea is enough to fulfill comparative justice
as well as proportionality, leaving only the probability of success. The probability of success is
arguably the only law that was not met during this time because the United States did not
consider this to be a full-out war. The President’s decision to not declare war showed that he
believed this would not be a long fight, leading his men to be ill-prepared for this war. While this
in itself is not a violation of the code, the mobilization of troops was not as aggressive as it was
just a few years before in World War II.
Korean War Jus in Bello
While the Korean War met a good deal of jus ad bellum, it failed to meet standard when it
came to jus in bello. With that being said the first laws that were broken were the distinction and
proportionality laws. While it is difficult to determine civilian causalities during the war, it is
estimated that there were 500,000-1,000,000 civilian fatalities. 2 This was due to careless
bombings, or blatant attacks by Allied forces. The Korean War had no shortage of failures, the
biggest failure of all was the lack of regard for the Lord’s will and the preservation of human life.
As bad as the Korean War was, it paled in comparison to the atrocities of the Vietnam War.
Vietnam War Jus Ad Bellum
The Vietnam War, much like the Korean War, began with the United States intervening in
a conflict to stop the spread of communism. Once again this was not a typical war that the U.S.
had seen in the past, it was a proxy war that was being fought by politicians. The U.S. population
2 (World Peace Foundation 2015)
was more opposed to this conflict due to how the last one ended. Regardless of how the citizens
felt, the United States entered into the war anyway. Unlike the Korean War, the United States did
not go to great lengths for peace, which resulted in the Last Resort criteria not being met.
Outside of the probability of success, which was arguable, to say the least, the Vietnam
War seemed to meet all other criteria for jus ad bellum. The just cause, comparative justice, and
right intention tenants were all satisfied simply by stating that the war was to protect the
population of Vietnam from communist control. This leaves only competent authority and
proportionality to speak about.
It was President Johnson who had entered the United States into Vietnam and much like
the previous war, there was no official declaration of war. Even though there was no official
declaration, this war was still being waged by the proper authorities, which met the criteria for
competent authority. Proportionality is the final jus ad bellum for the Vietnam war. It is arguable
that the decision to enter war was proportionate to the possible evils that would’ve happened,
considering how much damage was done to innocents during the war. These causalities could not
have been foreseen, but they may have been prevented if the U.S. had used every option possible
to secure peace before fighting.
Vietnam War Jus In Bello
The Vietnam War conflicted with the Christian Just War standards when it came to every
aspect of jus in bello. Starting with fair treatment of prisoners of war, the Northern Vietnamese
were especially cruel when it came to POWs. “North Vietnamese torture was exceptionally
cruel--prison guards bound POWs' arms and legs with tight ropes and then dislocated them, and
left men in iron foot stocks for days or weeks. Extreme beatings were common.”3 On top of the
3 (National Museum of the United States Air Force n.d.)
cruel treatment of POWs, there was little to no regard for civilian lives with an estimated
791,000+ deaths from 1965-1975. 4
The absurdly high civilian death rate was caused in part by the use of Agent Orange in
Vietnam. Agent Orange was an herbicide that fell under the category of a chemical weapon. The
use of this weapon went against not only the Geneva Convention but the code of malum in se.
The consequences of these attacks have devastated Vietnam to this day, making it one of the
evilest actions committed during this war.
It is nearly impossible to wage war without breaking a few of the Christian Just War
standards, but the Vietnam War conflicted with these standards in some of the worst ways
possible. Vietnam adhered to many of the jus ad bellum rules, except for a few. The rules it did
break set the tone for how brutal and unforgiving the war would turn out to be. With very little
effort made to have peace before the fighting began, the United States would set the stage for
brutality throughout the war. No effort to make peace was not the only mistake that would be
made. The Northern Vietnamese would go on to brutally torture the U.S. POWs in ways that only
the Devil could imagine, meanwhile, the U.S. would unleash chemical agents that would haunt
the country for years to come. No war is perfect, but the Vietnam War proved to be an unholy
and unjust war to some of the highest degrees.
Bibliography
National Museum of the United States Air Force. Brutality and Endurance. n.d.
https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/
Display/Article/197501/brutality-and-endurance/#:~:text=North
%20Vietnamese%20torture%20was%20exceptionally,times%20resulting
%20in%20POW%20deaths. (accessed May 10, 2024).
4 (World Peace Foundation 2015)
Truman Library. The United Nations in Korea. n.d.
https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/education/presidential-inquiries/united-nations-
korea (accessed May 10, 2024).
World Peace Foundation. Mass Atrocity Endings. August 07, 2015.
https://sites.tufts.edu/atrocityendings/2015/08/07/korea-the-korean-war/
#Fatalities (accessed May 10, 2024).
—. Mass Atrocity Endings. August 7, 2015.
https://sites.tufts.edu/atrocityendings/2015/08/07/vietnam-vietnam-war/
(accessed May 10, 2024).
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