Soft just war
theory is characterized by seven
key components: a strongly articulated horror of war; a strong presumption against war; a skepticism about government claims; the use of just war
theory as a tool for citizen discernment and prophetic critique; a pattern of trusting the efficacy of international treaties, multilateral strategies and the perspectives of global peace and human rights groups and the international
press; a quite stringent application of just war criteria; and a claim of common ground with Christian pacifists.