jus in bello

A group of principles intended as guidelines for the just prosecution of war whose origins go back at least as far as the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas (ca. 1225-1274 AD).

Includes the two principles of “discrimination” and “proportionality,” which attempt to define valid targets and acceptable applications of force, respectively.

Real understanding of the circumstances of the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki would lead one to conclude that the use of the atomic bomb was actually fully justified under the guidelines of jus in bello.

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