Brownie's Continuum of Conflict
Preface: I was lying in bed when this continuum came to me out of the blue (or was it black?). It’s not perfect (or sanctioned by anyone other than myself), I know, as it is based solely on my own perceptions and experiences, but having a good deal of training from a military perspective, and a measured amount of religious and moral training, as well as a strong sense of conscience, I think it does a good job of explaining how I see conflict. Listed in descending order of severity.
Nuclear Warfare – Ex: Hiroshima, Nagasaki in WWII. Immoral. Unlawful. Immoral because of its indiscriminate and terrible level of destruction not only to participants, but to the environment, and the general physical/psychological/political welfare of the entire world population. Unlawful because it is certain to lead to the reckless slaughter of non-combatants and the destruction of exempted facilities (churches, hospitals, etc.).
Unrestricted Conventional Warfare – Ex: Dresden, Tokyo in WWII. Immoral. Unlawful. Immoral because it slaughters civilian populations and destroys civilian homes/business/industries unrelated to war-making capabilities. Unlawful because it does not exempt non-combatants and exempted facilities from targeting.
Chemical/Biological Warfare – Ex: Iran-Iraq War, WWI. Moral/Immoral. Unlawful. Can be either moral or immoral depending on whether non-combatants are targeted. Unlawful by international agreement.
Restricted Conventional Warfare – Ex: Gulf War, Grenada. Moral/Immoral. Lawful. Can be moral if undertaken in the cause of justice or self-defense, immoral if undertaken for any other reason. Lawful because by definition, non-combatants and exempted facilities are not targeted.
Guerilla Warfare – Ex: Viet Nam, El Salvador. Moral/Immoral. Lawful/Unlawful. Both its morality and lawfulness depend on the conduct of, and reasons for, the conflict; and whether non-combatants and exempted facilities are targeted.
Low Intensity Armed Conflict – Ex: Iraq/US War. Moral/Immoral. Lawful/Unlawful.
Same as above.
Terrorism – Ex: Madrid Train Bombing. 9/11. Immoral. Unlawful. By definition it targets non-combatants and/or exempted facilities, therefore it is both immoral and unlawful in all cases.
Assassination – Ex: JFK, MLK, Attempt on Hitler’s life in WWII. Moral/Immoral. Unlawful. Could be moral if the assassination leads to the greater good, immoral if done for any other reason. Unlawful by statute and international agreements.
Kidnapping/Torture – Ex: Terry Anderson in Beirut, Hanoi Hilton. Immoral. Unlawful. Grossly immoral for the human suffering inflicted on people unable to defend themselves. Unlawful by statute and international agreement.
Human/Civil Rights Abuses – Ex: Slavery and racism in the America’s, Tienamen Square, Suspension of Habeus Corpus in US Civil War. Immoral. Unlawful. Immoral because it removes the bonds of justice from the practitioner and the accountability of government to the governed. Unlawful for the same reasons, as well as by statute and international agreements.
Propaganda – Ex: US war films in WWII, Nazi anti-Semitic campaign in WWII. Immoral. Lawful/Unlawful. Immoral in all cases because it leads to the stirring of base emotions/perceptions/nationalism at the expense of human life, well-being and/or ethnic/international harmony. Lawful if truthful, doesn’t lead to unlawful acts, and is within statutes. Unlawful if otherwise.
Political Corruption – Ex: Watergate, pork-barrel politics, bribery, kick-backs. Immoral. Unlawful. Self-explanatory (If you don’t understand why, then you have a serious ethical deficiency).
Misinformation – Ex: Run-up to Iraq/US war, issuing false communiqués to detect eminent invasion of Midway Island in WWII. Moral/Immoral. Lawful/Unlawful. Immoral/Unlawful if the manipulation of information not only confuses an enemy, but creates false impressions and perceptions in the public that lead to the degradation of their general welfare and/or human/civil rights abuses. Moral/Lawful if undertaken in self-defense or in a just cause, and does not create: perceptions in the public harmful to their well-being, and/or civil/human rights abuses.
P.S. It’s amazing what comes to you when you’re quiet.
Nuclear Warfare – Ex: Hiroshima, Nagasaki in WWII. Immoral. Unlawful. Immoral because of its indiscriminate and terrible level of destruction not only to participants, but to the environment, and the general physical/psychological/political welfare of the entire world population. Unlawful because it is certain to lead to the reckless slaughter of non-combatants and the destruction of exempted facilities (churches, hospitals, etc.).
Unrestricted Conventional Warfare – Ex: Dresden, Tokyo in WWII. Immoral. Unlawful. Immoral because it slaughters civilian populations and destroys civilian homes/business/industries unrelated to war-making capabilities. Unlawful because it does not exempt non-combatants and exempted facilities from targeting.
Chemical/Biological Warfare – Ex: Iran-Iraq War, WWI. Moral/Immoral. Unlawful. Can be either moral or immoral depending on whether non-combatants are targeted. Unlawful by international agreement.
Restricted Conventional Warfare – Ex: Gulf War, Grenada. Moral/Immoral. Lawful. Can be moral if undertaken in the cause of justice or self-defense, immoral if undertaken for any other reason. Lawful because by definition, non-combatants and exempted facilities are not targeted.
Guerilla Warfare – Ex: Viet Nam, El Salvador. Moral/Immoral. Lawful/Unlawful. Both its morality and lawfulness depend on the conduct of, and reasons for, the conflict; and whether non-combatants and exempted facilities are targeted.
Low Intensity Armed Conflict – Ex: Iraq/US War. Moral/Immoral. Lawful/Unlawful.
Same as above.
Terrorism – Ex: Madrid Train Bombing. 9/11. Immoral. Unlawful. By definition it targets non-combatants and/or exempted facilities, therefore it is both immoral and unlawful in all cases.
Assassination – Ex: JFK, MLK, Attempt on Hitler’s life in WWII. Moral/Immoral. Unlawful. Could be moral if the assassination leads to the greater good, immoral if done for any other reason. Unlawful by statute and international agreements.
Kidnapping/Torture – Ex: Terry Anderson in Beirut, Hanoi Hilton. Immoral. Unlawful. Grossly immoral for the human suffering inflicted on people unable to defend themselves. Unlawful by statute and international agreement.
Human/Civil Rights Abuses – Ex: Slavery and racism in the America’s, Tienamen Square, Suspension of Habeus Corpus in US Civil War. Immoral. Unlawful. Immoral because it removes the bonds of justice from the practitioner and the accountability of government to the governed. Unlawful for the same reasons, as well as by statute and international agreements.
Propaganda – Ex: US war films in WWII, Nazi anti-Semitic campaign in WWII. Immoral. Lawful/Unlawful. Immoral in all cases because it leads to the stirring of base emotions/perceptions/nationalism at the expense of human life, well-being and/or ethnic/international harmony. Lawful if truthful, doesn’t lead to unlawful acts, and is within statutes. Unlawful if otherwise.
Political Corruption – Ex: Watergate, pork-barrel politics, bribery, kick-backs. Immoral. Unlawful. Self-explanatory (If you don’t understand why, then you have a serious ethical deficiency).
Misinformation – Ex: Run-up to Iraq/US war, issuing false communiqués to detect eminent invasion of Midway Island in WWII. Moral/Immoral. Lawful/Unlawful. Immoral/Unlawful if the manipulation of information not only confuses an enemy, but creates false impressions and perceptions in the public that lead to the degradation of their general welfare and/or human/civil rights abuses. Moral/Lawful if undertaken in self-defense or in a just cause, and does not create: perceptions in the public harmful to their well-being, and/or civil/human rights abuses.
P.S. It’s amazing what comes to you when you’re quiet.
3 Comments:
Perhaps it's on a different conflict scale, but you forgot the most common kind of conflict: the kind that happens when you put two people (or more) together in any context for any extended period of time. Always moral and always lawful (to the participants.)
Like being married I suppose...
would it be possible to marry my pet (dog or cat)? I promise it would be moral and lawful and I would never have sex or violate my pet in any way of course. Would the Federal government recognize it and let me have health care and allow me to leave all of my possesions to Scooter or Fluffy?
I have a new blogspot, come visit~
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