Post by Ben Burgess on Feb 1, 2005 18:09:19 GMT -5
During the Second World War in the Pacific, US bombing killed 100,000 civilians in Tokyo in one night alone. Similarly the bombs dropped at Hiroshima and Nagasaki destroyed the lives of almost double this number both in the initial blast and in the years afterwards. Neither example was directed at major industrial or military targets. And while military installations nearby may have provided justification for some it cannot be denied that these centres of population were targetted to inspire terror in the mass population, scaring a country into abiding by the will of another nation.
If our rule then is defined as 'the targetting of a civilian population to inspire terror in order to achieve a specific goal' are we not now faced with a somewhat glaring similarity to the German actions in the town of Lidice? Certainly civilians were targetted in this area as both a retalliatory and preventory proceedure by the Nazis. And, if this is indeed the case, can either of these actions ever be morally justified?
This debate aims to pick up on this area of conflict as well as others such as the concentration camps created not only in Nazi Germany but those created by the British during the Boer War or, more noteably, their first major use by the Americans during the Civil War. This of course may also be extended to the use of 'Strategic Hamlets' created during the Vietnam conflict.
In discussing the moral issues of war it is perhaps most important to first deal with one simple question. Can we discuss moral factors in war or, once a country has declared war, do morals become exempt from debate as a country pursues victory at the justifiable cost of everything else?
I look forward to your opinions on any aspect of this issue in any context and with any relevant examples.
Ben
If our rule then is defined as 'the targetting of a civilian population to inspire terror in order to achieve a specific goal' are we not now faced with a somewhat glaring similarity to the German actions in the town of Lidice? Certainly civilians were targetted in this area as both a retalliatory and preventory proceedure by the Nazis. And, if this is indeed the case, can either of these actions ever be morally justified?
This debate aims to pick up on this area of conflict as well as others such as the concentration camps created not only in Nazi Germany but those created by the British during the Boer War or, more noteably, their first major use by the Americans during the Civil War. This of course may also be extended to the use of 'Strategic Hamlets' created during the Vietnam conflict.
In discussing the moral issues of war it is perhaps most important to first deal with one simple question. Can we discuss moral factors in war or, once a country has declared war, do morals become exempt from debate as a country pursues victory at the justifiable cost of everything else?
I look forward to your opinions on any aspect of this issue in any context and with any relevant examples.
Ben