Do You Believe Covert Warfare Is Ethical?

Ikari · Jan 28, 2013

MarineTpartier said:
First off, I would like to give credit to J-Mac for this thread. He posted this story earlier and it made me wonder what others thought about this.
Covert strikes, assassinations, etc have been interwoven into warfare for as long as warfare has been around. Even the Bible shows examples of covert action. So what say you? Do you believe the United States should engage in covert warfare?

EDIT- Just for clarification, when I say "covert warfare" I'm speaking of assassinations, blowing up nuclear facilities and not claiming responsibility for it, infecting computers with viruses, etc. I am not speaking of spying on a country.

There's likely scenarios in which it could be. Are all our covert operations in that scenario? Likely not.

earthworm · Jan 28, 2013

I fail to see anything ethical about warfare, but if we must fight, if the war is necessary, then all stops are pulled....they have to be...whatever it takes to win as quickly as possible...No more Vietnams....or Koreas...or Malis....

Hard Truth · Jan 28, 2013

Van Basten said:
Do you actually think the US should cease all covert operations? Come on, man. Obviously there are downsides, but anything and everything has its' downsides.

I don't oppose covert operations that are essentially law enforcement actions, such as attempting to capture Osama Bin Laden. (I don't know if shooting him dead was really necessary or not.) I do oppose extrajudicial murders and war-like attacks, which includes the murders by drone which have resulted in a lot of civilian deaths and increased anti-USA sentiment. I strongly oppose deposing or killing democratically elected leaders of other countries just to increase our corporation's profits.

MarineTpartier · Jan 28, 2013

Hard Truth said:
I don't oppose covert operations that are essentially law enforcement actions, such as attempting to capture Osama Bin Laden. (I don't know if shooting him dead was really necessary or not.)

To be fair, he did open fire on the SEALs. At least, that's what we are told. I don't doubt that, however, I think the way the operation went was probably best for everyone. He would have been a focus of martyrdom and protest for years. And yes, everyone including OBL. After all, his faith teaches that he was a martyr.

MarineTpartier · Jan 28, 2013

earthworm said:
I fail to see anything ethical about warfare, but if we must fight, if the war is necessary, then all stops are pulled....they have to be...whatever it takes to win as quickly as possible...No more Vietnams....or Koreas...or Malis....

or Iraqs......or Afghanistans

Do You Believe Covert Warfare Is Ethical?