Source: NDTV
Subject: Ethics and morality
Context: China has condemned a deadly missile strike on a school in southern Iran, calling it a breach of the bottom line of morality after reports indicated at least 165 people, including many children, were killed.
About Morality and War:
What it is?
- Morality in war refers to the ethical framework, often codified as Just War Theory (Jus in Bello), that dictates how combatants must behave during a conflict. It seeks to balance the necessity of defeating an enemy with the humanity of protecting those who are not part of the fight.
Types of Morals in Ethics:
- Moral: Acts that respect human dignity even in violence (e.g., providing medical aid to an injured enemy soldier).
- Immoral: Deliberate cruelty or targeting of the defenseless (e.g., the My Lai Massacre during the Vietnam War).
- Amoral: Decisions based purely on efficiency or statistics, ignoring human cost (e.g., Body counts used as a metric of success in conflict).
Importance of Morals in War Situations
- Protection of Non-Combatants: Moral norms and international humanitarian law protect civilians, prisoners of war, and medical personnel, preserving human dignity even during armed conflict.
Example: In the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, the Indian Army treated about 93,000 Pakistani POWs humanely under the Geneva Conventions, setting a global ethical benchmark.
- Maintaining Civilised Standards: Ethical rules restrict weapons and tactics that cause unnecessary suffering, ensuring warfare remains limited to legitimate military objectives.
Example: The St. Petersburg Declaration (1868) banned certain explosive weapons, establishing the principle of avoiding unnecessary suffering in war.
- Facilitating Post-War Reconciliation: Ethical conduct during conflict reduces bitterness and enables peaceful reconstruction and cooperation after the war.
Example: After World War II, the Marshall Plan helped rebuild European nations instead of imposing harsh punitive measures.
- Global Legitimacy and Support: Respecting humanitarian norms strengthens diplomatic legitimacy and helps build international coalitions.
Example: During the 1991 Gulf War, the US-led coalition emphasised avoiding civilian and cultural targets to maintain global support.
- Limiting Unnecessary Suffering: Moral restraints discourage indiscriminate destruction and reduce long-term humanitarian and environmental damage.
Example: India’s No First Use (NFU) nuclear policy reflects a moral commitment to use nuclear weapons only as deterrence.
Challenges to Morals in War Situations:
- Fog of War and Intelligence Failures: Confusion and incomplete intelligence during combat can lead to tragic mistakes and civilian casualties.
Example: The 2021 Kabul drone strike killed 10 civilians, showing how faulty intelligence can undermine ethical warfare.
- Dehumanisation of the Enemy: Propaganda portraying opponents as inferior weakens moral restraints and legitimizes violence.
Example: During the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, propaganda labeled victims as cockroaches, facilitating mass killings.
- Asymmetric Warfare: Insurgents often operate among civilians, forcing security forces to balance military objectives with civilian safety.
Example: In counter-insurgency operations in Jammu & Kashmir, militants hiding in civilian areas create moral dilemmas for forces.
- Technological Detachment: Advanced technologies such as drones and autonomous weapons distance soldiers from battlefield consequences, reducing human judgment.
Example: Autonomous Weapon Systems (AWS) raise ethical concerns as machines cannot exercise compassion or moral reasoning.
- Political Pressure for Results: Governments may prioritize quick victory over humanitarian considerations during intense conflicts.
Example: The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (1945) remain debated as strategic decisions overriding civilian protection.
Rare Ethical Principles Associated:
- The Principle of Distinction: The absolute requirement to distinguish at all times between the civilian population and combatants.
- Jus Post Bellum: Justice after war, focusing on the moral obligations of winners to help losers rebuild a stable society.
- Martens Clause: A safety net principle stating that even in cases not covered by specific laws, civilians and combatants remain under the protection of the principles of humanity.
- Moral Injury: The psychological trauma suffered by soldiers when they are forced to perform or witness acts that violate their deep-seated moral beliefs.
Way Ahead:
- Human-in-the-Loop AI: Ensure that every lethal strike involving AI or drones requires a final, accountable human moral check.
- Universal Jurisdiction: Empower international courts to prosecute war crimes regardless of where they happened or the nationality of the perpetrator.
- Digital No-Strike Registries: Create a blockchain-verified global list of schools, hospitals, and heritage sites that are automatically updated in the targeting software of all nations.
- Moral Literacy in Military Academies: Shift training from just how to kill to when not to kill, making ethics a core tactical skill rather than an afterthought.
- Sanctions for Disproportionate Force: Implement automatic economic penalties for nations that cause civilian casualties beyond an internationally agreed-upon proportionality ratio.
Conclusion:
War is the ultimate test of a civilization’s values, where the pressure to win often collides with the duty to be human. Whether it is a school in Iran or a hospital in a conflict zone elsewhere, the moral bottom line remains the same: civilians are not targets. Progress in warfare must not just be measured by the range of a missile, but by the strength of the moral constraints placed upon it.
