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Wars comprise an integral part of the world history. Since the beginning of the human civilization, people were involved in military conflicts which have expanded to the global scale by the 20th century. In such a situation, the emergence of the just war theory contributed to the explanation of wars on the basis of this theory. However, the interpretation of the just war theory may lead to unexpected outcomes, such as conclusions made by Aaron Fichtelberg in his article “Applying the rules of the just war theory to engineers in the arms industry”. In fact, Fichtelberg arrives to a paradoxical conclusion that technical professionals, including engineers are responsible for the war more than the military commandment or politicians.
First of all, it is important to dwell upon basic rules principles of the just war theory discussed and interpreted by Fichtelberg in his article. Speaking about basic principles of the just war theory, it is necessary to underline that there are two contradictive views. On the one hand there are supporters of the theory who sincerely believe in its principles. On the other hand there are skeptics who criticize the just war theory believing that the just war is a kind of Utopia.
Nonetheless, whether one support the just war theory or not it is necessary to critically analyze its basic theoretical assumptions in order to understand it. The followers of the just war theory stand mainly on the consequensialists’ ground and they believe for instance that there are long-term benefits to having war convention or those, standing on the ground of intrinsicists, argue that certain spheres of life ought never to be targeted in war, for example, hospitals and densely populated suburbs.
Shortly there are several postulates of the just war theory and probably the most important is the idea that the just war should be waged as a last resort. It means that it is necessary to use all possible means of prevention of the war and solution of a conflict and only if they, being used, fail than it is possible to start the just war.
According to the next principle a war may be just only if it is waged by a legitimate authority. Consequently, a group of people cannot decide whether to start the war or not, it can only be done by the authority that has a public support and is legitimate.
Another postulate of the just war theory states that a just war can only be fought to redress a wrong suffered In such a case a war may be just when a country is attacked or is threatened to be attacked and it starts the war as self-defense. Also the just war theory presupposes that such war could be fought with ‘right’ intentions when the only permissible objective of a war is to redress the injury.
Furthermore, a war may be just on the condition that it is fought with a reasonable chance of success. It means that there should not be unnecessary casualties and death and injuries incurred in a hopeless cause are not morally justifiable.
The ultimate goal of a just war must be to re-establish peace. At this point it is necessary to precise that the peace after the just war should be more preferable to the peace established in the case if the war has not been fought.
Finally, the violence in the war should be proportional to the injury suffered. Consequently force cannot be used unnecessarily and weapon should be used very carefully in order not to hurt non-combatants and the deaths of the civilians are justified only if they are unavoidable victims of a deliberate attack on a military target. In such a way, basic principles of the just war theory seems to be very humanistic if such a word is applicable to the notion of war but at the same time they are quite subjective and may be interpreted in different ways.
In such a situation, Fichtelberg attempts to finds those who are responsible for wars. The author develops the idea that the war is provoked by engineers and those companies that operate in the military industry. He insists that the invention, development and production of weapon, especially en masse, leads to the natural need to sell and use the weapon to keep the industry growing because companies producing arms are interested in the state contracts. Thus, companies operating in the military industry develop new weapon and technologies that provoke wars because they are economically interested in wars. The author concludes that engineers and other technical professionals are also responsible for wars because it is these professionals who develop new weapon and contribute to the growth of the military industry.
Thus, Fichtelberg arrives to a paradoxical conclusion that technical professionals, who do not take decisions but just create weapons, are responsible for wars, whereas the military commandment and politicians are not decision makers that launch or provoke wars.

Works Cited:
Fichtelberg, A. “Applying the rules of the just war theory to engineers in the arms industry.” Science and Engineering Ethics, 12(4), 2006, 685-700.
Regan, R. Just War Theory: Principles and Cases. CUA Press, Washington, DC., 1996.