Just war/military ethics essays examples

Introduction

The captain in the middle of the war is in a moral dilemma. He is considering following orders and dropping a bomb into the enemies’ town where the enemies are hiding, or just approaching the town with a troop of soldiers. The captain has a decision to make revolving around his conscience. How sure is the captain about whereabouts of the enemies? Is he using the weapon he has rightfully? Who are the occupants of the town? These are issues of consideration in the justified ethic and war.
The concept of reciprocity and ethical justification defines the very idea of ethics; there is no circumstance where application of ethic does not fit into, ethics can be applied even in the extreme situations including war (Russell, 1975). During war, soldier use excess force. Ethicist’s look at it in a different perception and they remind the soldier that, it is not right to call the war legitimate by only the virtue of the power. Even if it appears as a legal justification, the principle of violence will remain true that war is unethical without right justification and therefore termed as illegitimate. It will be justifiable if the soldier is suspended from the platoon or, be dismissed from the military for using extra force in handling the victims of war.
The war objective should be proportional to the offensive action taken. Just war theory recommends reducing destruction and the number of civilian casualties in war. It cannot be ethical when a soldier commits excessive destruction that is not worth. In fighting military war, it is legitimate to use drones on a target on the enemy bases and camps, it is not morally permissible to use the drone on a civic war (Elshtain, 2003). In addition, the use of the drones in war without concrete reason is not allowed, on the basis that it is a quick weapon present in the military arsenal for fighting and scares away enemies. This reason alone cannot make it just. Reasonable justification for actions taken means being willing to accept the same thing to be done to us by others. However, it is justified to use the drones ethically, but the standards to use drones are high. Making the soldier responsible for the actions during the war and making him, pay for the damage he/she did unnecessarily will be morally ethical.
Justification to go to war includes taking responsibility of the actions ordered and executed in war. Military ethics involves the stand, which a soldier will take to do the right thing without following the wave of the platoon, or executing orders from his/her superiors. Though realists reject such acts, it is unnecessary performances, which do not alter the course, which the war is taking. Such actions remind critics that, it is justified to return with good conscience of doing the right thing. What if the war will end or be avoided by making a selective killing? Will making selective killing, for example, assassinating the leader of the enemy be justified? This is where the military will consider doing the “ right thing”, it will be justified to stop mass killing and suffering according to the purpose of the action. Based on discrimination, it will be justifiable to assassinate a legitimate target, say, assassinate the father to prevent the whole family from suffering; the father is the legitimate target by virtue of his aggressive (Elshtain, 1992). It is not justified to hold the soldier accountable for the right thing done, even if he/she will have defied order and opted for the best alternative actions.

Conclusion

Just and war reduces the gap between theoretical ethics applied ethics, defines moral actions that a soldier should follow when on duty. War cannot be legitimate if it is done to show power, or called to prove efficiency of artillery or arsenal. However, taking responsibility and doing the right thing against all odds is justified and morally considered ethical.

References

Russell, F. H. (1975). The just war in the Middle Ages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Elshtain, J. B. (1992). Just war theory. New York: New York University Press.
Elshtain, J. B. (2003). Just war against terror: The burden of American power in a violent world. New York: Basic Books