Military Ethics

THe RIghts of Irregular Combatants

by Michael Skerker

Defense Intelligence Journal, vol. 2, no. 1, (spr 2011): 35-49

What sort of rights are due terrorism suspects? What sort of rights are due terrorism suspects?

Intelligence Ethics and Non-Coercive Interrogation

by Michael Skerker

Defense Intelligence Journal, 16-1 (2007): 61-76

Jesus and Mars: the Christian Just War Theory

by Michael Skerker

in Enemy Combatants, Terrorism, and Armed Conflict Law, ed. David Linnan, (Praeger, 2008)

The first part of this essay offers a historical survey of the Christian tradition on just war. The presentation... more The first part of this essay offers a historical survey of the Christian tradition on just war. The presentation follows some of the basic arguments that thinkers have developed with respect to states’ right to enter into war (jus ad bellum), and the moral criteria that governs the actual fighting (jus in bello). We will discuss the evolution of the different doctrines, explain their similarities and differences, and highlight the tensions between the more restrictive classical doctrines and their more permissive modern incarnations. 

Just War Criteria and the New Face of War: Human Shields, Manufactured Martyrs, and Little Boys with Stones

by Michael Skerker

published in Journal of MIlitary Ethics, Vol. 3, No. 1, (Spring 2003): 27-39

Abstract: This paper applies jus in bello criteria to a relatively novel tactic in asymmetrical warfare: the attempt... more Abstract: This paper applies jus in bello criteria to a relatively novel tactic in asymmetrical warfare: the attempt by a conventionally weaker force to shape the conditions of combat so that the (morally scrupulous) stronger force cannot advance without violating the rules of war. The weaker side accomplishes this by placing its own civilian population in front of the attacking force: by encouraging or forcing civilians to be human shields; by launching attacks from civilian areas; by provoking reprisal massacres; by creating humanitarian disasters; and by secreting military targets in civilian neighborhoods. This set of tactics is introduced with historical examples taken from recent conflicts in the Balkans and the Middle East. The paper argues that the doctrine of double effect is largely inapplicable to these tactics due to their publicity-seeking nature and that enemy war crimes do not reciprocally release the attacker from his moral obligations. Specific tactical recommendations are generated for situations where the deployment of this tactic can be anticipated; for situations where the attacker is and is not immediately imperiled by its use; and in situations where attempts at discrimination are futile.

Uninhabited Aerial Vehicles and the Asymmetry Objection: A Response to Strawser

by Jai Galliott

The debate about the ethics of uninhabited aerial vehicles (UAVs) is failing to keep pace with the rise of the... more The debate about the ethics of uninhabited aerial vehicles (UAVs) is failing to keep pace with the rise of the technology. Therefore, all the key players, including ethicists, lawyers, and roboticists, are keen to offer their views on the use of these drone aircraft. Some are opposed to their use, citing a range of ethical, legal and operational issues, while others argue for their ethically mandated use. B.J. Strawser fits into this latter category. He develops a principle of ‘unnecessary risk’, from which he argues that we have an ethical obligation to employ UAVs if we can do so without incurring a loss of capability. Strawser defends his argument against a number of potential objections, most questionably, the argument that the use of distance weaponry such as drones, against another state without distance weaponry, crosses some moral threshold that makes the combat immoral. Utilising Jeff McMahan's work on the inequality of combatants, Strawser essentially argues that there are no grounds for a ‘fair fight’. However, this paper will argue that it is not so easy to overturn the doctrine of the moral equality of combatants, nor dismiss the problem with asymmetry. It will demonstrate that if the asymmetry reaches a certain level, the justification for resorting to war may be removed and some sort of policing action may remain the only option.

Combat Hospital’s deployment of ethics and entertainment

by Bryn Williams-Jones

de Laat, S.; Schwartz, L.; Williams-Jones, B.; Hunt, M.; Rochon, C*, & Okhowat, A.* 2012. “Combat Hospital’s deployment of ethics and entertainment” Canadian Medical Association Journal. 184(6) : 680-681

More Seminal Ethics Implications

by Mark Singer

Tandem works include: "Seminal Ethics," "Kant Concept Art," "Addendum - More Seminal Ethics Implications" - also on this site.

These implications are: moral, epistemology, love, happiness, time and space, psychological, art, education, medical, economic, war, capital punishment, and abortion.

"Addendum - More Seminal Ethics Implications" includes additional categories.

The Romanian Army Officer Lt. Alexandru Gheorghe (27 y.o.) Fights for Democracy Under the Weight of the Lingering Communist Era Tombstones

by Adrian Toader-Williams

Denigrating intellectuals and eliminating people that stands out against the ruling government for a public interest cause has deep roots in the old time human behavior tendency to hold power. Personally I have hard time to accept that during our days such concepts and practices are still generalized in the civilized countries. Remainders of the old communist and dictatorial regimes isolated tendencies are possible to linger around. We can aim towards a sustainable development only by reaffirming the democracy, the social contract and the fundamental law protecting the Human Rights. If not absolutely nothing makes sense. Full Article: http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-743320 Military Army NATO Romania Social Contract Human Rights Health Freedom Economy Economics Equilibrium TEKT Triangular Ecokinematics Theory Webcast Romania Retirement Law Education Security Sustainable Development Government Finances Banks Money Inflation Attribution

Denigrating intellectuals and eliminating people that stands out against the ruling government for a public interest... more Denigrating intellectuals and eliminating people that stands out against the ruling government for a public interest cause has deep roots in the old time human behavior tendency to hold power. Personally I have hard time to accept that during our days such concepts and practices are still generalized in the civilized countries. Remainders of the old communist and dictatorial regimes isolated tendencies are possible to linger around. We can aim towards a sustainable development only by reaffirming the democracy, the social contract and the fundamental law protecting the Human Rights. If not absolutely nothing makes sense. Full Article: http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-743320

Privatised peacekeeping: a necessary evil?

by Conway Waddington

To fight or not to fight? The ethics of military desertion: Symposium on the Iraq war

by William Patterson

Published in International Journal of Applied Philosophy.

Many controversial issues have come under discussion regard- ing the recent war in Iraq. The justifications given for... more Many controversial issues have come under discussion regard- ing the recent war in Iraq. The justifications given for the war itself, the way the war was prosecuted, and the handling of the post-war situation have all been hotly contested matters. This paper focuses on an aspect of the war that has not drawn much attention—the decisions made by members of the Iraqi military to either fight or not to fight. From the very beginning of hostilities the United States made concerted efforts, through such methods as e-mails and leaflets dropped from aircraft, to encourage the desertion of Iraqi military personnel. Many Iraqi soldiers followed this advice and surrendered to U.S. forces at the first opportunity; others con- tinue to fight to this day. Were the soldiers that deserted the military or sur- rendered without a fight morally justified in doing so? This article attempts to answer that question through an examination of such related issues as patriotism, political and moral duties, obligations arising from oaths and promises, and political legitimacy. Though this analysis does not lead to the development of iron-clad rules that definitively resolve the moral issues underlying military desertion, it can help us to get a clearer understanding of these issues and to develop guidelines by which to judge the morality of specific instances of desertion.

Collective military virtues

by Per Sandin

Published in Journal of Military Ethics 6 (4) 303-314, 2007.

Ethics, Nuclear Terrorism, and Counter-Terrorist Nuclear Reprisals - A Response to John Mark Mattox's 'Nuclear Terrorism: The Other Extreme of Irregular Warfare'

by Thomas Doyle, II

Published in Journal of Military Ethics 10:4, Dec. 2011, 296-308.

This paper critically examines John Mark Mattox’s view of the nature of the moral appropriateness
of particular... more This paper critically examines John Mark Mattox’s view of the nature of the moral appropriateness
of particular response options. By so doing, I aim to engage the wider readership in a debate,
which I hope leads to greater clarity and precision of thinking on these topics. After summarizing
Mattox’s view, I argue first that in order for Mattox’s ultimate conclusion to hold in moral terms, he
must abandon the argument on the permissibility of nuclear reprisal to re-establish nuclear
deterrence and instead anchor this response solely on the moral grounds of retributive justice.
Secondly, I argue that the morally superior and politically efficacious counter-nuclear terrorist
response is to hunt down the nuclear terrorists and hold them accountable for war crimes in the
International Criminal Court. This response is consistent with just war theoretic principles, and it
also affirms the moral virtues of honor, dignity, and humane treatment in contexts where they are
needed the most
the holocausts of nuclear terrorist attacks.

Kant Concept Art

by Mark Singer

Tandem works include: "Seminal Ethics," "More Seminal Ethics Implications," "Addendum - More Seminal Ethics Implications" - also on this site.

The artist is P. Patten (USA).

Seminal Ethics

by Mark Singer

Tandem works include: "Kant Concept Art," "More Seminal Ethics Implications," "Addendum - More Seminal Ethics Implications" - also on this site.

Additional implications include: moral, epistemology, love, happiness, time and space, psychological, art, education, medical, economic, war, capital punishment, abortion, and possibility.

Per un lessico politico di Leonardo da Vinci. II. Indizi di polemologia: “naturalità” del conflitto e “necessarietà” della guerra

by Marco Versiero

published in «Bruniana & Campanelliana», vol. XV, no. 1, 2009, pp. 121-134

The second instalment of my exploration of Leonardo’s political lexicon deals with
the theme of warfare, as... more The second instalment of my exploration of Leonardo’s political lexicon deals with
the theme of warfare, as documented by two different, but interrelated, series of
tests. The analysis concerns, on the one hand, Leonardo’s anthropology and cosmolo-
gy, highlighting his ideal of naturalness in politics, especially with regard to the notion
that conflict is the inevitable concomitant of all human relationships. On the other
hand, I discuss Leonardo’s involvement in the military arts and his attempt to explain
and justify war as a means of preserving the liberty of a state, in order to illustrate his
idea of the necessity of war in certain circumstances. The final aim of the article is to
propose a way of reconciling Leonardo’s activity as a military engineer and architect
with his own undoubted pacifism.

The Coming Robot Army

by Steven Featherstone

Published in the February 2007 issue of Harper's Magazine

Progressive Religion to the Rescue By Mary E. Hunt

by Feminism and Religion

Feminism and Religion
Author: Mary E. Hunt

The happy hoopla surrounding the lifting of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell had a shadow side. Close inspection revealed a lot... more The happy hoopla surrounding the lifting of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell had a shadow side. Close inspection revealed a lot of partners and spouses of LGBTIQ military people who had been cloaked in secrecy and euphemism (“Meet my cousin”) for years. Now they, too, can come out. But they remain second-class citizens whose marriages don’t count because of the Defense of Marriage Act. They are not eligible for health care and other benefits routinely provided for dependents of military members. This injustice is a new and important front in the struggle for full human rights, one that has a unique religious twist that bears watching.

Roboethics and Telerobotic Weapons Systems

by John Sullins

Presented at IEEE ICRA 2009

A technology is used ethically when it is intelligently controlled to further a moral good.  So we can easily... more A technology is used ethically when it is intelligently controlled to further a moral good.  So we can easily extrapolate that the ethical use of telerobotic weapons technology occurs only when that technology is intelligently controlled and advances a moral action.  This paper deals with the first half of the conjunction; can telerobotic weapons systems be intelligently controlled?  At the present time it is doubtful that these conditions are being met, I suggest some ways in which this situation could be improved.

Telerobotic Weapons Systems and the Ethical Conduct of War

by John Sullins

APA Newsletters
Spring 2009
Volume 08, Number 2

I will argue that telerobotic weapons systems need to be more carefully designed and deployed in order to minimize the... more I will argue that telerobotic weapons systems need to be more carefully designed and deployed in order to minimize the negative impacts they could have on the already shaky ground that supports the ethical conduct of military actions. Using just war theory as a background for discussion, I suggest that the design of telerobotic weapon systems can foster values that either extend just war ideals or not. While recent instances of the use of this technology have appeared to be morally nebulous, I suggest some ways in which this technology may be designed and used in ways that will enhance just war practices. For example, telerobotic weapons might serve to limit casualties and increase command and control of pilots and soldiers. Also, the same technology used for military reconnaissance can, and should, be used by the media to extend the abilities of war reporters in order to enhance accountability and scrutiny of military affairs. Finally, I address the problems that occur when the operators of these weapons become too distant and isolated from the violence at the other end of their video monitors.

Technologie et Souffrance dans le Guerre (Forthcoming)

by Nolen Gertz

In "Les drones aériens: passé, présent et futur. Approche globale", La Documentation Française. Coll. Stratégie aérospatiale (2012)

French translation of my "Technology and Suffering in War" French translation of my "Technology and Suffering in War"