A soldiers Moral/ Legal evaluation during a war?

Question

Is it true to say that an army cannot function if each soldier will conduct a moral and legal evaluation of the orders he or she gets? It can be argued that we cannot expect or ask soldiers to deliberate on the morality during the heat of the war.

Answer 1

Soldiers do have a right and responsibility to question orders that are obviously illegal/ immoral. That is why there are so few war crimes committed in combat by the U.S. in combat. There is not some huge conspiracy to cover that type of thing up. Most military members are good and moral people, who make the right choices 99.99% of the time (even in the thick of battle). If that wasn't the case there wouldn't be any insurgent prisoners to detain. They would be shot on the spot. I can tell you that is not the case from experience.

***Don't even bring up that cowardly, treasonous idiot LT. Watanda. He signed up for the military AFTER we were already at war in the middle east. You don't get to pick what wars you want to fight in. He knew he would be deployed there. The unit he joined was highly deployable. He orchestrated his whole enlistment to try to make a political statement. He's an embarrassment to the uniform. He is playing the anti-war card the same as his father did during Vietnam for the same future political reasons. Anybody oblivious of that families history who lionizes that turd is a blind idiot. But it's a fact that liberals and anti-war types usually fail to dig under the surface to figure this type of thing out. Ex- soldier Jesse MacBeth would be another fine example... MacBeth got 5 months. I think at least the same should be in order for the LT, as well as a Dishonorable Discharge.

Answer 2

This is rather funny to me. When you say deliberate i imagine the soldiers sitting down to a cup of tea and discussing what should happen next. This scenario is odviously completly unacceptable. Soldiers normally recieve instructions that are fairly general but yet specific at the same time such as capturing an objective or defending a position. Now how they go about that is up to them but there are many things they simply will have no choice in such as returning fire well i guess they do have a choice they could do nothing and hope the enemys aim is horrible. You do have a moral and legal obligation to question any order that is outright wrong. For instance if a officer orders a soldier to kill a unarmed tied up prisioner such orders defy the rules of warfare and geneva conventions. Soldiers also had better be sure that any orders they decide to not follow are not followed for very good reasons otherwise it could be considered mutiny and in wartime can be punisable by DEATH.

Answer 3

Most guys in combat don't go in for a lot of navel contemplation. The chief concern is your life and the lives of the two guys about five meters or less on either side of you.
And there is a huge divide between legal and moral. Something can be perfectly legal and be morally wrong. Not just in war. In life. Think of all of the elected and appointed officials who use the legal standard as "wiggle room" when they have been caught doing something which is clearly wrong.
I am of the mind that no member of the Judge Advocate General Corps has any business writing "Rules of Engagement" until after that military lawyer has spent some time in a squad of infantrymen or flown a combat air mission as an observer. My stance on this is drawn from an old Sioux Indian prayer: "Great Spirit, help me never to judge another until I have walked in his moccasins.".

Answer 4

What is true is that if an NCO or Officer tells you do do something you do it. Period. End of story.

If told to do something obviously illegal you can say "No Sir". or "No Sargent". Be very sure though. It is not illegal to order "you" to put your young American Butt in harms way or perform a task that is dangerous.

Are we on the same page?

Join up. No better way to clear academia out of ones mind.

SSG US Army 73-82

Answer 5

you better have the following to an answer of no when telling it to an officer or NCO-

integrity for what is right
justifiable moral convictions
personal courage to see it though
and mostly - knowledge of army regulations as it pertains to the mission.

if you are missing any one of those, expect to tell your story on the carpet of your commander as he's reading you an Article 15 or 32b

Answer 6

Many people believe that soldiers shouldnt have a right to question or rationalize orders.

the truth is, they should, because they are not robots, and some orders are in fact immoral and unconstitutional.

Take LT Watada, who still has not been convicted for refusing to go to war in Iraq.
If our military juicial system hasnt convicted him, then that shows the argument for a war in IRAQ is in fact qurestionable.

Otherwise he would be in jail with a dishonourable discharge already.

FYI - Bush and chenney have been implicated in the wrongdoings one step further tonight.
Could this be the beginning of the end.

Check the news articles see what is said about Bush known involvement in the CIA leaking.
DEmocrats start arming yourself, cause the battle is about to begin.

Impeach bush!!!
And chenney!!!
then try them for war crimes and violation of Constitution and Internatioanl Law.