Ethical dilemmas in a combat environment are easy to identify and often routine. However, Ethical dilemmas in combat frequently do not have correct answers. Decisions can be clouded by the fog of war and the unknown. Often hindsight can provide solutions but no can hardly judge a leader who is attempting to accomplish a mission and ensuring his or hers own life and their subordinate’s lives in a complex situation. This is what defines ethical decisions in combat different than those found in most of life and in the corporate world. This paper is meant to outline what are combat ethical dilemmas, define those at the small-unit level made by war fighters all the way to the strategic level decision makers and the policy of war. Often we analyze …show more content…
Hiding the knowledge of these programs is an attempt to maintain positive relationships with the west, despite knowing their walking a fine line. However, many nations that conduct these types of actions believe, or know, they have no other options if they are to succeed (Frank). Conflicts in Africa are an excellent example of this. Many African countries are poor, have limited resource, and unsteady governments and military forces. Many times, the government and enemy forces are on even playing fields with regards to minimal weapons, equipment, and personnel training. With such a weak military, governments feel they must employ this force or they will be left with nothing to combat the enemy. Such a weak and incapable force rarely has accurate intelligence and almost certainly doesn’t have precision munitions. These forces then are forced to go into the bush and attempt to clear large swaths of terrain, often being outwitted by enemy forces just to clear the same piece of land again. This process repeats itself until one of the only scenarios is village razing or questionable capturing and killing of villagers assessed to be part of the enemy force. The country must then hide these ethical decisions to prevent what support they do get from being degraded and giving the enemy a media …show more content…
As previously mentioned, intelligence and weapon systems also become more critical when fighting insurgencies, especially in population centers. Without the intelligence to target dissidents and the means to target them precisely without large-scale collateral damage Assad and his Syrian Army were forced to press the attack regardless. Syrian Airforce began large-scale bombing of cities to target the uprising and military ground forces began to enter population centers causing significant fighting in the street. As casualties mounted, Syrian Ground and Air Forces began additional systematic destruction of structures that were assessed as being utilized by dissidents in effort to protect its own force, leading to significant destruction and mounting civilian casualties. This type of warfare ultimately led to a refugee crisis that resulted in millions being displaced in the
This essay will evaluate Eisenhower’s moral judgement and ethical decision-making using three (of seven) ethical principles author Don Snider contends are applicable to all Army professionals. After evaluating Eisenhower’s integration of duty, loyalty and subordination, this analysis concludes that Eisenhower used appropriate ethical and moral judgement in his decision authorized the deal as Allied Commander. The first principle
Tim O’Brien’s book “The Things They Carried” epitomizes the degradation of morals that war produces. This interpretation is personified in the characters who gradually blur the line dividing right and wrong as the motives for war itself become unclear. The morality of soldiers and the purpose of war are tied also to the truth the soldiers must tell themselves in order to participate in the gruesome and random killing which is falsely justified by the U.S government. The lack of purpose in the Vietnam War permanently altered the soldier’s perspective of how to react to situations and in most cases they turned to violence to express their frustration.
The United States Army, in its current state, is a profession of arms. In order to be considered a profession, the organization must have an ethical code rooted in values, strong trust with its clients, and be comprised of experts within the trade. These experts are constantly developing the trade for the present and the future and hold the same shared view of their trade culture. The Army currently has an ethical code embodied in the Army Values, which provides guidance to the individual and the organization. These values are universal across the Army, regardless of an individual’s personal background or religious morals.
But in truth a true war story will stir great feelings, but may not contain a moral at all. In fact, a true war story is never moral. It does not instruct, nor encourage virtue, nor suggest models of proper human behavior, nor restrain men from doing th...
“Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime.” As depicted in the quote by Ernest Hemingway war is a difficult situation in which the traditional boundaries of moral ethics are tested. History is filled with unjust wars and for centuries war was not though in terms of morality. Saint Augustine, however, offered a theory detailing when war is morally permissible. The theory offers moral justifications for war as expressed in jus ad bellum (conditions for going to war) and in jus in bello (conditions within warfare).The theory places restrictions on the causes of war as well as the actions permitted throughout. Within early Christianity, the theory was used to validate crusades as morally permissible avoiding conflict with religious views. Based on the qualifications of the Just War Theory few wars have been deemed as morally acceptable, but none have notably met all the requirements. Throughout the paper I will apply Just War Theory in terms of World War II as well as other wars that depict the ideals presented by Saint Augustine.
... that of a ‘competing obligations dilemma.’ Faced with a wounded insurgent, who was ’98 per cent dead,’ the decision to shoot him at point blank range and ‘put him out of his misery’ caused confliction among the ethical obligations of Capt. Semrau. The obligations in conflict were integrity, loyalty and responsibility. Each of the obligations that are used to guide Canadian Forces personnel could easily have been applied to the ‘soldier’s pact.’ In Capt. Semrau’s mind he had rationalized that he was morally justified in shooting the insurgent as he ended the misery of the Taliban guerrilla and hoped someone would do the same for him if the roles were reversed. Regardless of how he interpreted his ethical obligations, his use of them contravened the overriding authority of Principle I of the ethical principles which is entitled ‘Respect the dignity of all persons.’
Respect to me is admiring someone for their abilities, qualities, or achievements. I think respect is always earned an can never be given. As soldiers soldiers we should always respect our peers because they have made the same sacrifice as us. But as soldiers we should have a higher level of respect for our NCOs because they have done their time an have earned it. Being respectful is not hard it is simple, just treat others the way we would like to be treated ourselves.
Relations between countries are similar to interpersonal relations. When the conflicts between countries escalates to some extent, any resolutions become unrealistic except violence, and wars then occur. Although wars already include death and pain, moralists suggest that there should still be some moral restrictions on them, including the target toward whom the attack in a war should be performed, and the manner in which it is to be done. A philosopher named Thomas Nagel presents his opinion and develops his argument on such topic in the article “War and Massacre”. In this essay, I will describe and explain his main argument, try to propose my own objection to it, and then discuss how he would respond to my objection.
Clausewitz's On War, first published in 1832, until now remains one of the most influential studies in understanding character, nature and conditions of warfare. In his book Clausewitz not only traced an interaction of intension and planning with the realities of combat, but by exploring the relationship of war to policy, politics and society gave a new philosophical justification to the art of war. (Heuser, 2002)
Do you think Israeli soldiers should be held to a higher ethical standard than other soldiers? Why or why not?
LM01, Ethical Leadership. (2012). Maxwell Gunter AFB. Thomas N. Barnes Center for Enlisted Education (AETC)
The most simple dictionary definition I have found is: The quality or state of being accountable; an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one 's actions. Accountability can be applied to many situations in the daily life and it can easily be overlooked in the civilian world, but when it comes to the US Army or any military branch, accountability is one of the most important things. That is why is instilled in every soldier since the moment they are shipped out to Basic Combat Training. The whole Army needs accountability to keep operations running 24/7. From the PVTs, all the way up to high ranking officers, we all need to be accountable for our assigned equipment, location/status, personnel, and our actions. If we are not held accountable of our
An ethical dilemma is only examined in a situation which has the following conditions; the first condition takes place in a situation, when an individual has to make a decision on which course of action is best. The second condition is there must be more than one course of action to choose from. The third action is no matter what course of action is taken, certain ethical principles are conceded. In other terms, there is no perfect result. When defining what forms an ethical dilemma, it is important to make a division between ethics, morals, values, laws and policies.
In my profession as a military officer, I face difficult moral dilemmas during training and operations. As a leader in war, I am responsible for making decisions about life and death, in a chaotic environment with limited information. It is easy to say that I always will act according to my values and the values of my society. Do I follow the laws of war or do I act towards the result of the greatest good? Will I torture someone to save my family or am I willing to sacrifice my soldiers, my family and myself in that perspective? When facing tough moral dilemmas, I have to look at both rules and consequences and based on my character and core values make the decision that I think is
Military Discipline is a state of order and obedience existing within a command. Self discipline in the military is where soldiers do the 4 rights without being told, even in the absence of the commander. Discipline is created within a unit by instilling a sense of confidence and responsibility in each individual. To strengthen discipline, senior leaders need to give praise to their subordinates, either individually or as a whole, for tasks done well. By doing this, it will accomplish every commanders goal of having a unit that functions well and builds a bond which binds together the team. Everything in life requires some sort of discipline. Whether it is hitting a baseball, learning to sew , playing a musical instrument, making good grades or brushing your teeth it all comes down to a matter of discipline.