Ethics of War

The Ethics of Modern Warfare Human beings have been fighting each other since prehistoric times, and people have been discussing the rights and wrongs of it for almost as long. The Ethics of War starts by assuming that war is a bad thing, and should be avoided if possible, but it recognises that there can be situations when war may be the lesser evil of several bad choices. War is a bad thing because it involves deliberately killing or injuring people, and this is a fundamental wrong - an abuse of the victims’ human rights. (www.bbc.co.uk) The rationale of ethics in war is to help in making a decision on what is right or wrong, both for individual soldier and the countries involved. War ethics also leads to the establishment of formal laws of war (e.g. The Hague and Geneva conventions), the creating and enforcing of rules of engagement for soldiers, and in the punishment of soldiers and others who commit war crimes. Currently, the world has seen a quick increase in wars across the world. What was meant to be the first century not scarred by war, quickly turned into a bloodbath in the wake of terrorist attacks in the United States and in Europe. In response to these attacks on civilian populations the United States engaged in two pre-emptive wars on those who harboured terrorists. These wars have now been ongoing for seven years and recently the number of American and other Coalition soldiers fallen on the battlefield has risen to over 4000, and the number of Iraqi civilian casualties has risen to 1,421,933. (Griffis). Recent issues that surround and greatly manipulate the world we live in makes us ask the question. How can these deaths and wars be necessary? The answer to this question is that, even though war is an indisputable evil, there are worse things on this planet than death, and in times of great adversity man has the moral responsibility to use force in the hope of greater good for humanity. The Ethics of War starts by assuming that war is

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