Land Letter

Article Index for
Land

Website Links For
Land

Information About

Land Letter

The letter outlined how a Pre-emptive invasion of Iraq met the criteria of traditional 'just war' theory:

such an action would be ''defensive''

the ''intent is found to be just and noble''. The United States does not intend to 'destroy, conquer, or exploit Iraq'

it is a ''last resort'' claiming Saddam Hussein had a record of attacking his neighbors, of the "headlong pursuit and development of biochemical and nuclear Weapons Of Mass Destruction " and their use against his own people, and harboring Al Qaeda terrorists

it is authorized by a ''legitimate authority'', namely the United States

it has ''limited goals''

it has ''reasonable expectation of success''

'' Non-combatant Immunity '' would be observed

it meets the criteria of ''proportionality''—the human cost on both sides would be justfied by the intended outcome