Obama, the Military and Just War Theory

Shannon Brandt

Security,

“the president requires near-certainty of no collateral damage. But if he believes it is necessary to act, he doesn't hesitate.”

In his recent interview with The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg, President Obama specifies some key elements of his 'theory' on the use of military force — part of the so-called Obama Doctrine. Goldberg claims Obama would argue that “dropping bombs on someone to prove that you're willing to drop bombs on someone is just about the worst reason to use force.” What does this interview tell us about how Obama thinks about the use of military force?

On the one hand, Obama believes that military force should be limited. He says: “I had come into office with the strong belief that the scope of executive power in national-security issues is very broad, but not limitless.” Generally-speaking, limiting military force is a good thing. War is a risky and costly exercise that can only be justified in the most extreme cases because of the likelihood of widespread death and destruction. Combatants in war have frequently inflicted high-levels of devastation: they have laid waste to the environment, destroyed cultural heritage, wounded, maimed, and killed.

Obama is a realist in the sense that he recognizes the limits of U.S. military power. He says: “I suppose you could call me a realist in believing we can't, at any given moment, relieve all the world's misery.” He continues: “We have to choose where we can make a real impact.” It is certainly consistent with political realism for Obama to be concerned with the high costs and risks of war.

But Obama's reticence to use military force also has an important moral element. John Brennan (Obama's CIA Director) suggests that he and the President “have similar views. One of them is that sometimes you have to take a life to save even more lives. We have a similar view of just-war theory.” The Just War tradition acknowledges that sometimes war is necessary, but it seeks to reduce the harm of war both by preventing its incidence and, where it does occur, by minimizing the death and destruction it causes.