Case Study: The Just War Theory

To: The Populist Party of Octavia
From: Party Leader and Spokeperson, Eugene S Bryant
Re: The Fight For Freedom

As the head of the Populist Party of Octavia, I feel that I must be open and honest with you, my fellow Party members. We have all known for some time that our Prime Minister, Staltro, is an oppressive and ruthless dictator. We have all made serious efforts to work within the system to enact change, and yet he has refused to budge even an iota past his own petty concerns. As you read this now, keep in mind that what is said herein is said with trust, for upon you, the most stalwart supporters of freedom in this great nation of Octavia, all of our hopes lay.
Sources very close to Staltro have informed us that he has reached an agreement with Mussolitler, the feared dictator of Monrovia. This agreement entails that there shall be an invasion by the forces of Monrovia, which will meet a token resistance and then claim victory. Staltro has been asked by his cabinet to reconsider turning control of Octavia over to Mussolitler, but he has been promised to remain ruler over Octavia as a province. Now we come to the very heart of what this letter entails.
It is time for us to rise up and seize control of our nation from its dictator. Staltro can no longer make claim that his regime is legitimate authority in Octavia, for as soon as he struck his bargain with Mussolitler, he forfeit any claim he had to that mantle. By agreeing to hand over Octavia to Monrovia, Staltro has become part of the Monrovian regime, and therefore holds no claim to authority in Octavia! As a political party and popularly supported movement for reform, it falls upon the Populist Party to protect our nation from this outside tyranny.
You may ask yourselves what just cause we have to prepare to go to war for the freedom of our nation, especially when no blow has yet landed. But I say to you that a blow has already been struck against our territorial integrity and our political sovereignty. Staltro would hand control of our government to Mussolitler and act as his lieutenant! And he would allow Mussolitler to violate our borders to provide living space for his own population and to mine our natural resources! The conquest has already been planned and the outcome determined; the only thing left yet to do is for innocent Octavians and Monrovians to die. This is our just cause; this is why we must intercede before things go too far.
I wish there was some other way, but we have worked within the system to try to bring about change to Staltro’s policies, only to be ignored and persecuted. We have even begged him to reconsider his agreement with Mussolitler, but he has refused, promising extensive jail sentences for those who oppose him once the Monrovian dictator has cemented his hold over Octavia. We have delivered an ultimatum to Staltro, that he has until the last day of this month to sign a policy that will guarantee the Octavian government will resist influence and conquest by any and all outside forces or interests. He has been made aware that if he should not live up to this expectation, the consequences may be disastrous for the people of Octavia, though I wish to all things above that it could be otherwise.
If he fails to meet this ultimatum, then I shall go before the public on both our national stations as well as through international media. I will explain the agreement that has been struck between Mussolitler and Staltro, and then I will proclaim the illegitimacy of Staltro’s authority. With that act, I will declare Octavia free from any outside control and announce the borders of this nation closed and off limits until this internal dispute can be settled. In the interest of peace, we shall welcome anyone to enter Octavia with proper petition and acceptance, but only under escort. Government and military facilities will be declared unsafe for civilians in an attempt to minimalise danger to civilians as much as possible.
Some of you may be asking yourselves what horrible price this fight for liberation will bring. I have asked myself the same question. The plans that have been devised are designed to keep casualties to all involved to a minimum. The specifics of the strategies will be laid out shortly, but I would offer you this analysis of the potential human costs to both sides. We are likely to face little resistance from Staltro’s regime. We know full well the support of the people of Octavia is behind us. There will be some resistance because this is the nature of military training; however it is estimated to be a small enough number as to justify such losses, if such a thing can be justified.
Our true fear lies in Monrovia. We are concerned that Mussolitler will begin his invasion as soon as we declare ourselves free and expose his plan to conquer our beloved nation. The cost of a war with this enemy will be our biggest concern, but we hope that our defenses at the borders will keep losses and battle to a minimum, as well. We are hopeful that Mussolitler will declare Octavia a province of Monrovia due to the agreement between himself and Staltro in an attempt to discredit our authority. We are hopeful because that action would only bring the saving grace of this entire matter all the more quickly, but I’m not yet prepared to discuss that quite yet.
I would like you all to be at least marginally aware of the strategies we’ve designed to keep the bloodshed as low as possible, as well as to allow us to hold out for as long as possible until our true goals are met. First and foremost, the borders accessible to the military forces of Monrovia will be barricaded, the roads soaked so as to make travel incredibly difficult, and mines laid. Generally, I would not be willing to use mines, but with proper warnings posted and the war zones declared off limits to civilians, we can only hope that this will deter many bloody incidents. These barricades will consist largely of heavily armored bunkers, partially subterranean. This should make them not only very difficult to destroy, but also quite effective at holding out a large enemy force should it become necessary.
Finally, we will seize control of military and government facilities in lightning-quick surgical strikes. It is our hope to gain control with as little violence as possible, but we also believe that the popular nature of our war will bring us many converts and allies as we take control of the tyranny’s infrastructure. This also includes seizing control of transit lines and shipping lanes. Once these things are in our control, we can begin to make use of the infrastructure already in place to support the war effort and to benefit the citizens of Octavia.
Our only real hope for success against the might of Monrovia, however, is that we can hold our nation long enough to gain international sympathies. It is believed that if we can hold our borders at least somewhat effectively for half a year, international powers will become strikingly aware of the state of things in this region and act to intercede against the ruthless dictators. The nature of our strategy makes this not only likely, but is likely to induce Monrovia and Staltro’s remaining forces to act more rashly and bring more to bear against our fight for freedom that would be deemed acceptable by international standards of warfare. This will only serve to expedite our cause, although the costs as result could be high. For the sake of a greater justice, this is something we are willing to risk.
What we are doing is not done out of any arrogant self-interest, as in the cases of Mussolitler and Staltro. We seek to remove our oppressive dictator from his pulpit and to keep another dictator from taking over. We seek an end to the oppression of our people, and hopefully for the people of Monrovia, as well.
We fight this war for the hope of peace in our nations. As long as Staltro remains in power here, there will be people like us who are willing to rise up and risk everything to attain sweet freedom. As these struggles continue and Staltro gets more oppressive, these freedom fighters will become all the more desperate, until they are targeting anything of meaning or worth in devastating acts of terrorism. When you inflict terror on a people for long enough, terror comes to be the only thing they know or understand. We must not only fight this war for our sakes, but for the sake of all Octavians. We also face the incredible loss of lives through warfare for a matter which has already been settled privately between two dictators. Octavians and Monrovians will die if Mussolitler’s plan is allowed to come to fruition. Even worse, Monrovian citizens will face the same terrorism from desperate Octavians if Mussolitler is allowed to gain control of our nation.
I can only hope that I have made it abundantly clear that we must rise up against Staltro, not only for the benefit of our own people, but for the hope that a greater result will come to the oppressed people of Monrovia, as well. I have explained as best I can how we shall enter this war with a clear conscious, now I feel that I must explain how we can come out of this war with a clear conscious. There are certain things we must understand and accept about the methods we use to fight this war if we are to be anything more than tyrants should we achieve victory.
We must consider, at every point, the potential cost in lives to both sides. We cannot truly consider this a just and proper war if we are willing to fight battles that will cost more lives than those battles can provide gains to our overall strategy. Our victory in this scenario seems like impossibility, and it nearly is. But the real victory will come in holding our nation intact until aid can come from the world arena. Until that time, our entire goal must be to act in a manner that will divert aggression and avoid bloodshed whenever possible. I do not see this as a war consisting of battles between our forces and the enemy; I see it as an attempt to push a burglar out of our home without causing him any serious harm. While this may seem ludicrous, it is our only option if we are to be any better than Staltro or Mussolitler!
Our soldiers will be given orders in regards to the manners and proper conduct of warfare. Most importantly, we hope our quick, surgical attacks will give us the edge we need to take out targets with as little violence as possible. In this we do have some fear that non-uniformed personnel may pose a significant threat to the safety of our forces, however orders shall be given that no soldier is to fire upon non-uniformed personnel unless fired upon first. Further, we shall not fight a shadow war by trying to blend in with civilians. All of our soldiers will wear fatigues and a red beret bearing the national insignia of Octavia. The fatigues are intended to allow our forces to blend in with their surroundings so as to gain a tactical advantage over enemy forces, but they are also intended to stop our soldiers from being able to hide among civilians.
In regards to civilians, soldiers shall be ordered to avoid being the presence of civilians at all times unless civilians are in need of aid. Should a soldier find themselves in such a situation, they are required to adorn themselves with a white armband, demonstrating their capacity as a non-combatant until they are able to return to a suitable combat location. Risk to civilians is to be avoided at all costs and they are to be protected. An entire medical corps is going to be stationed in every major city to tend to anyone who may be wounded by enemy forces.
Last but not least, I wish to make it clear that in this fight for freedom we shall not make use of any prohibited means according to international standards of law. No matter how dire the circumstances or how important our fight for freedom is, should we face defeat after carrying out our plans and putting forth our best effort, we will not result to the use of such barbaric and terrible methods as those outlawed in all matters of proper warfare. If we must fight, we will fight. If we can hold, we will hold. If we seek freedom, we shall attain freedom. But never shall we act as our enemy has.