Just war doctrine

Military and Civilian Perspectives on the Ethics of Intelligence Introduction The military is a unique and has its own way of going about its duties. This not withstanding, there is no denying the fact that the civilian populace form the majority of representation of any country and thus the driving force in determining societal norms and deeds. This means that the military cannot live and operate in isolation but then should have all its operations in the interest of the nigger society. One issue of such importance to society about the work and operations of the military is Just War. Content According to the BBC Ethics Guide (2011), “ A war is only just if it is fought for a reason that is justified, and that carries sufficient moral weight.” Just War goes beyond just a military practice to be encompassed as a theory. In this direction, Orend, Brian (2008) argues that “ just war theory is probably the most influential perspective on the ethics of war and peace.” This means that the talk of just war raises a lot of questions on ethics and morality. Many researchers and theorist have therefore propounded a lot of ideas and theories on just war. One of such is the ‘ consequentialist’ moral dynamic for intelligence operations introduced by Arrigo. The Arrigo Paper and believers of it thereof raise a lot of issues of when human source intelligence, counterintelligence, or covert operations pass the “ moral divide” and violate the Just War doctrine. As an expectation of civilians from the military, wars should be started by causes and causes should be found through intelligence. For this reason, a justified war comes with a justifiable cause and for that matter, a justifiable intelligence. It is therefore important that “ a doctrine of just war should coordinate with a doctrine of just intelligence, especially for human source intelligence, counterintelligence, and covert operations” (Arrigo, 2001). Ultimately, the military has failed on its mission of just war if its source of intelligence cannot be ranked as just in the sense that it is taken primarily by insiders or military specialists without any regard for outsiders or ordinary citizens. Another incidence when human source intelligence, counterintelligence, or covert operations pass the “ moral divide” and violate the Just War doctrine is when a war fought does not redress wrong suffered but is fought on the basis of inflicting revenge and vengeance. Again more, a war violates the just war doctrine when ordinary citizens or civilians are made to suffer directly or indirectly for the sake of a beleaguered target. Conclusion In conclusion, it is important that all forms of war, even those against terrorism are fought on the principles of just war and that at no point in time should the military become its own dictator or decider. As much as possible, intelligence from civilians should be respected because for nothing at all, the civilian knows the basic laws and knows the difference between right and wrong. REFERENCE LIST Arrigo J. M. 2001. Military and Civilian Perspectives on the Ethics of Intelligence. http://isme. tamu. edu/JSCOPE01/Arrigo01. html. Internet; June 11, 2011 Arrigo Paper. A Consequentialist Argument against Torture Interrogation of Terrorists. www. au. af. mil/au/awc/awcgate/jscope/arrigo03. htm. Internet; accessed June 10, 2011 BBC Ethics Guide, 2011. What is a ‘just cause’? http://www. bbc. co. uk/ethics/war/just/cause_1. shtml. Internet; accessed June 11, 2011. Orend, Brian, 2008. ” War”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. http://plato. stanford. edu/archives/fall2008/entries/war/. Internet; accessed June 11, 2011.