The Moral Warrior

Martin L. Cook

Description

For the first time in history, the capabilities of the U.S. military far outstrip those of any potential rival, either singly or collectively, and this reality raises fundamental questions about its role, nature, and conduct. The Moral Warrior explores a wide range of ethical issues regarding the nature and purpose of voluntary military service, the moral meaning of the unique military power of the United States in the contemporary world, and the moral challenges posed by the "war" on terrorism.

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Part One. Moral Facets of Military Service

1. The Moral Framework of War

2. Why Serve the State? Moral Foundations of Military Officership

3. The Normative Dimensions of Military Professionalism

4. The Moral Role of Professional Military Advice

Part Two. Moral Soldiers and Moral Causes: Serving the Needs of Justice in the New World Order

5. Just Peacemaking: The Challenges of Humanitarian Intervention

6. Resisting Global Terrorism

7. Noncombatant Immunity and the Force Protection Imperative

8. Strategic Theory, Military Practice, and the Laws of War: The Case of Strategic Bombing

9. Transcending Westphalia

Notes

Index

Sujets

• Lycée
• Philosophie
• Philosophie
• Éthique et morale
• International relations
• Ethique et morale

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 10 mars 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780791484265
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

The Moral Warrior
SUNY series, Ethics and the Military Profession
George R. Lucas Jr., editor
The Moral Warrior
Ethics and Service in the U.S. Military
Martin L. Cook
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
2004 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.
For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY www.sunypress.edu
Production by Diane Ganeles Marketing by Anne M. Valentine
Library of Congress Cataloging-in Publication Data
Cook, Martin L., 1951-
The moral warrior : ethics and service in the U.S. military / Martin L. Cook. p. cm. - (SUNY series, ethics and the military profession)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7914-6241-2 (he: alk. paper) - ISBN 0-7914-6242-0 (pbk.: alk. paper)
1. Military ethics-United States. 2. United States-Military policy-Moral and ethical aspects. 3. United States-Armed Forces-Moral and ethical aspects. I. Title. II. Series.
U22.C597 2004 172 .42 0973-dc22
2003068709
10 9 8 7 6
K ING H ENRY . ...methinks I could not die anywhere so contented as in the King s company, his cause being just and his quarrel honourable.
W ILLIAMS . That s more than we know.
B ATES . Ay, or more than we should seek after; for we know enough if we know we are the King s subjects. If his cause be wrong, our obedience to the King wipes the crime of it out of us.
W ILLIAMS . But if the cause be not good, the King himself hath a heavy reckoning to make when all those legs and arms and heads, chopp d off in a battle ... I am afeard there are few die well that die in a battle; for how can they charitably dispose of anything when blood is their argument? Now, if these men do not die well, it will be a black matter for the King that led them to it ....
K ING H ENRY . So, if a son that is by his father sent about merchandise do sinfully miscarry upon the sea, the imputation of his wickedness, by your rule, should be imposed upon his father that sent him.... But this is not so: the King is not bound to answer the particular endings of his soldiers ... for they purpose not their death when they purpose their services. Besides, there is no king, be his cause never so spotless, if it come to the arbitrement of swords, can try it out with all unspotted soldiers....
- Henry V , act 4, scene 1
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part One. Moral Facets of Military Service
Chapter One. The Moral Framework of War
Chapter Two. Why Serve the State? Moral Foundations of Military Officership
Chapter Three. The Normative Dimensions of Military Professionalism
Chapter Four. The Moral Role of Professional Military Advice
Part Two. Moral Soldiers and Moral Causes: Serving the Needs of Justice in the New World Order
Chapter Five. Just Peacemaking: The Challenges of Humanitarian Intervention
Chapter Six. Resisting Global Terrorism
Chapter Seven. Noncombatant Immunity and the Force Protection Imperative
Chapter Eight. Strategic Theory, Military Practice, and the Laws of War: The Case of Strategic Bombing
Chapter Nine. Transcending Westphalia
Notes
Index
Preface
The role, nature, and conduct of the military of the United States are subjects worthy of deep reflection at this juncture in American history. Although our military operates largely out of sight of many of our citizens and even of our leaders much of the time, our military and its role in the world is changing, and the military itself is rapidly evolving along several axes.
Never in American history have we maintained a large all-volunteer (or, perhaps better, all-recruited) military force. In the past, the American military demobilized to very small forces in peacetime and then conscripted forces when large numbers were required for the next major conflict. This is itself a dramatic change in our military. On the one hand, America s military is much more professional, better trained and equipped, and of higher quality than we have ever experienced. On the other hand, unlike large conscripted forces, it is unrepresentative of the society it serves in many respects and, some fear, deeply alienated from that society. For many, our military has become a family business as more and more of its members, especially of the officer corps, are themselves products of military families. Politically, America s military (and especially the officer corps) is overwhelming Republican in its politics. Both of these developments raise concern, if not alarm. Concepts of apolitical military professionalism and service to the whole of American society require rearticulation and reexamination in these changed circumstances.
In parallel with those social developments in the military, there have been dramatic changes in the technology with which that military is equipped. Precision munitions in more and more weapons systems radically change the moral symmetry of risk in combat. Unmanned platforms are rapidly proliferating that alter that symmetry even further. Electronic communications, satellite imagery, and computor technology provide a comprehensive awareness of the battlefield and work together to make the US military effective in ways no other military on the planet can even approximate. These developments raise new ethical questions about the appropriate use and limits of such capabilities. Each new development raises questions, many of them unforeseen, about the limits and proper use of those systems.
Cumulatively, these evolutionary changes in the role and nature of our military make the United States the sole remaining superpower (or, if one prefers, hyperpower ) on the planet. This fact, too, raises fundamental questions about the international system and the role of the United States in it. How, for example, do we combine the reality of American uniqueness with the concept of sovereign equality of states that forms the bedrock of the Westphalian international system and the United Nations? Especially in the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) in which we are now engaged, how do rules of international relations accommodate the twin realities of American uniqueness and having an adversary that does not take the form of a state?
This book is an exploration of many dimensions of these issues.
Acknowledgments
This book is grounded not only in research and scholarship, but also in the privilege of working and teaching for five years at the United States Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. America s war colleges help to prepare our military s most senior leaders. The outstanding men and women who advance to the rank of lieutenant colonel and colonel are indeed an elite community of professionals. Without the benefit of constant learning from their vast accumulated experience and knowledge, a book like this would be impossible for a civilian scholar to write. It is appropriately dedicated to my esteemed colleagues and former students at the Army War College.
As I complete this manuscript, many of my former students are returning from or deploying to positions of command in Iraq and Afghanistan. My respect for their dedication, professionalism, courage, and sacrifice is unbounded.
Earlier versions of the following chapters appeared originally in the following publications with whose permission they are used here. Grateful acknowledgment is made to them. The Introduction was modified from an essay originally published as On Being a Sole Remaining Superpower: Lessons from History, Journal of Military Ethics (v. 1, Issue 2), 2002, 77-90, and is used here by permission of Taylor Francis AS. Chapter 2 was modified from an essay originally published as Why Serve the State? Moral Foundations of Military Officership. The Leader s Imperative: Ethics, Integrity and Responsibility , J. Carl Ficarrotta, ed. (West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press, 2001). Chapter 3 was modified from an essay originally published as Army Professionalism: Service to What Ends? The Future of the Army Profession , Don M. Snider and Gayle L. Watkins, eds. (Boston: McGraw-Hill Primus, 2002), 337-354. Chapter 4 was modified from an essay originally published as The Proper Role of Professional Military Advice in Contemporary Uses of Military Force, Parameters , v. XXXII, n. 4 (Winter 2002-2003), 21-33. Chapter 5 was modified from an essay originally published as Just Peacemaking: Challenges of Humanitarian Intervention, Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics (v. 23, n. 1), 241-253. Chapter 7 was modified from an essay originally published as Immaculate War: Constraints on Humanitarian Intervention. Ethics and International Affairs , 14(2000), 55-65. Chapter 8 was modified from an essay originally published as Strategic Theory, Military Practice, and the Laws of War: The Case of Strategic Bombing, in Anthony F. Lang, Albert C. Pierce, and Joel H. Rosenthal, eds., Ethics and the Future of Conflict: Lessons from the 1990s (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, Inc., 2003), 163-182. Chapter 9 was modified from an essay originally published as Two Roads Diverged, and We Took the One Less Traveled: Just Recourse to War and the Kosovo Intervention. Kosovo: Contending Voice on the Balkan Intervention , William Buckley, ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Press, 2000).
Dr. George Lucas of the United States Naval Academy and editor of this series in military ethics for SUNY Press has been a loyal friend and constant encouragement during the compilation of this work. I speak truly when I say that, without his efforts, this book would not have been produced.
Lastly, but most importantly, I want t