Morality in Modern Aerial Warfare

There is a moral way to wage war, be it in the air, on the sea, or on the ground. This paper contends that the US Air Force can maintain a high level of morality in the conduct of air operations. In doing so, we will save the lives of both our airmen and innocents on the ground. The authors intend to show that there is a long tradition of morality in war and that we can and should maintain high standards. We do NOT advocate, nor should the reader infer that we believe it is possible to conduct a war in which no innocents are harmed. We DO urge senior commanders to balance the proportionality of probable non-combatant casualties against the military necessity of the given targets. If that balance cannot be made, we urge our leaders to say so.Lt Gen Mike Short, the air commander for Operation Allied Force, quoted above, makes the proper case that there will be unintended casualties and that we, as a nation, must understand this when waging war. What the authors make clear is that anything beyond the proportional loss of life due to necessity is immoral and must be prevented.

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