PHI 140 The Ethics of War and Peace

Ethical reasoning and applying ethical theories to moral issues connected to war and peace are among the hardest things we can do as civilians.

Our Objectives for this activity: 

• Explain the significant ethical views of war, including just war theory, pacifism, and total war theory.

• Define crucial components of various ethical theories, including utilitarianism, deontologism, and stoicism.

• Apply these theories in thoughtful written and verbal analysis to various cases and issues.

• Compare and contrast material from combat experiences of military writers based on character, situation, and narrative nuances.

To quote one video commenter (@Daniel-yh9dz), "That's part of being a soldier. You gonna have blood on your hands either way. But someone needs to commit the sins, so people back home can be safe. How to live with yourself, knowing all the sins you have committed, is the most difficult thing I can imagine. I have deep respect for them."

An (S) symbol indicates a student-suggested movie. If you have one you would like me to add, message me or add it to any of your initial posts or replies.

CONSIDER ALL SCENES RATED R FOR VIOLENCE, DEATH, AND BLOOD - AND MAY INDUCE POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS. 

American Active Duty Perspective:

American Sniper - Killing Women and a Kid Carrying Grenade. (S)

• • Clip Tag: Rules of Engagement, classification of targets, and mal-intent.

  • Part I: (YouTube, 2 mins) Sniper must decide if the child in question holding a grenade intends to use it. He is conflicted due to the negative identification confirmed.

  • Part II: (YouTube, 2 mins) Similarly, a child picks up a grenade launcher in a playful manner and must decide how to clarify whether the child is hostile. 

Johnny Got His Gun

• Review of the movie by Nandakishore Mridula (2015)

• Johnny Got His Gun (1971) (YouTube, 1 hr 50 mins) Companion Read: Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo.

This movie hit my soul! Although the movie was sometimes dated and long-winded, its nihilist surrealist imagery haunts my imagination and self-awareness. Instead of asking if democracy is worth dying for, the author asked if democracy is worth torturing a soul for the rest of its existence. He then asked you to remove yourself from war and ethics and reduce yourself to basic humanity. 

What would you do if someone asked you to end their life for them?

“Our livelihood has been threatened in this scenario, and we need to establish peace. Still, in doing so, there is a high possibility that soldiers will experience a fate worse than death. Mortars might blow off all their limbs and face, and they will live the rest of their lives trapped inside their mind, unable to communicate with the outside world. Finally, after years of this dark torture, they find a way to communicate and beg for death. Realizing the horrible prospect of their existence, is it immoral to euthanize them?”

A few discussion questions come to mind, but you can form your own reflection for the class. My questions are just here to get the wheels turning. 

• Do we have a moral obligation to care for the service persons who fight on our behalf?

• Does the prospect of peace justify the risk?

• By what standards do we classify something as immoral or moral?

• Do we pull the plug and honor their wishes? 

• What scenario would allow you to pull the plug?

Iraqi War Veterans Narratives (American Perspectives)

• Iraq War Veterans, 20 Years Later; (YouTube, 17 mins) Rated-R for language

• A Vietnam Vet. 20 Million Viewers Watched His Story Start To Finish (YouTube, 15 mins)

Questions to think about

• Is younger better when recruiting due to their naivety?

• What's the difference between a soldier on day one and twenty years later?

• If a soldier can't explain war, who can?

• How did kicking down a door make them grow up?

• Who are the bad guys? Who are the innocent?

• What does it mean to property of the US Government?

• What’s the difference between defending your country and fighting a war?

Lone Survivor - A Difficult Decision (2013) (S)

• • Clip Tag: Rules of Engagement, classification of targets, and mal-intent.

  • YouTube, 4 mins: This scene questions the rules of engagement when encountering civilians who might give away your position. They must decide to keep them as prisoners, kill them, or leave them for dead.

Operation Homecoming (American Iraq/Afghanistan perspective)

• Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience (YouTube, 7 mins) Rated-R: Language. 

Operation Homecoming is a collection of poetry readings set to music and video vignettes that show military service reuniting with their families. The stories submitted by Iraq War veterans are read and visualized by different actors and filmmakers. Colby Buzzell’s “Men In Black” feature is one of the many that stands out to me as incredible. References: FOB Marez incident. This video will be referred to during our optional guest speaker event.

Global Active Duty Military Perspective:

Afghanistan

• Camaraderie in war through the Fall of Kabul and US Responsibility to fellow Afghanistan Soldiers 

  • Remarks by President Biden on the End of the War in Afghanistan (website) 

  • What We Need To Learn: Lessons From Twenty Years Of Afghanistan Reconstruction (PDF)

  • My Story: Nasirullah Safi, former Afghan interpreter (3 mins, video)

  • ‘No one left behind’ means interpreters, too (website) (S)

  • America Has a Moral Obligation to Get Our Translators Out of Afghanistan (Website)

Hiroshima

• Bombs dropped: Kiyoshi Tanimoto -This is Your life-John Hershey's "Hiroshima" main characters. 

Vietnam War Veterans Narratives (American & Vietnam Perspectives)

• Soldier Reveals What He Saw In Vietnam (YouTube, 15 mins)

• South Vietnamese Perspective (YouTube, 2 mins) (S)

• 1960s North Vietnamese Soldiers Training, Vietnam War (YouTube, 15 mins)

In the Vietnam videos above, soldier (A) describes a noise and darkness behind a door. He also describes, in great detail, the differences between perceived war and the reality of war. In video (B), the soldier also describes his disappointment towards the US Allies, who he claimed abandoned him to the enemy. In video (C), we watched a training video from the North Vietnam Army. The following questions are in direct response to those sentiments. You don't need to use these questions; they might help spark reflection and response. 

Video (A). During the early days of Jan 2020, US/Iranian escalations proved how quickly two countries might go to war over an assassination similar to the events during WWI. Halfway through WWI and before the US joined the fight, the UK ran out of soldiers, so they began the draft. This implies that as the war continued, they didn’t have the support of the people; hence, a draft was required, and the number of volunteers was low. This brings to focus the question of Conscription. The US government has implemented Conscription since the American Revolution. In today’s climate, it seems highly unlikely the justifications used to fight WWI would be considered valid justifications for war today. Consider for a moment how The Constitution gives women protection over their bodies but, in the same breath, demands men sacrifice their lives on behalf of the whole. Have we not stripped the men of their Constitutional protection to their bodies? If we as a nation demand men, ages 18-25, register for the Selective Service or face jail time, have we just committed an unconstitutional act towards men? Where in the Constitution are men’s bodily rights preserved?
In Video (B), the soldier is very hurt by the treatment he received when the US pulled out of Vietnam and the North captured him. Considering Americans pride themselves on no soldier left behind, what obligations do we as a nation have towards allied troops those who are left behind? We see glaring similarities if we played the video alongside one of our training videos. The motivations behind their fight and our fight often parallel each other. In the video, one difference is that of the citizen soldier. Discuss the justifications that allow American Citizens to let soldiers fight on their behalf instead of joining the battle as seen in the video.

WWII

• Frank Stigler: When German Fighters Don't Drop the Bomb 

• World War II justified by former German soldiers (YouTube, 5 mins) (S)

• The German Perspective of WW2 (YouTube, 15 mins)

• The Front - Full Action Movie (YouTube, 1 hour 5 mins) 

It is relatively dry in its delivery but attempts to show different perspectives from the German and American sides during WWII. “At the close of World War II, a reporter tasked by the newly formed United Nations to document the war's devastating aftermath interviews six German Nazi prisoners in an Allied internment camp.”

Comment posted; “This movie attempts to portray a writer who interviews various wartime personalities, devoting a separate chapter to each subject. It is not a continuous plot involving the same actors from start to finish.”

Come and See (Belarus perspective)

• Come and See (YouTube, 2 hours 22 mins) (S)

• Come and See | Creating The Most Disturbing Film | Commentary (YouTube, 22 mins)

Family Member or Civilian Perspective:

Children impacted by War

• Separation (2012) is A short film about Iraqi and Afghan refugee children living in Iran. (YouTube, 9 mins)

  • 00:00 - 01:00 Introduction

  • 01:00 - 02:58 What is War? Defined by children.

  • 02:58 - 03:39 Angry at War

  • 03:39 - 04:20 What do you want?

  • 04:27 - 05:08 Is War worth it?

  • 05:08 - 06:29 Stat Information

  • 06:30 - 08:17 End Credits

• GRACE - Short Film (Vimeo, 11 mins)

  • Director and writer Brian Patto talks to LBB’s Zoe Antonov about the creation of ‘Grace,’ a film about a father-daughter relationship amid ISIS’ attacks on Mosul, Iraq, and how real-life events and characters inspired the project. 

  • Commentary Website

Civilians

• Neutral Ally (YouTube, 8 mins)

• Good Morning, Vietnam (YouTube, 2 hours, $3.99)

• A Thin Red Line, an analysis of a movie (YouTube, 10 mins)

Civilians Attacked: Vietnamese civilians vs. American Troops

• My Lai Massacre (video, 21 mins)(Rated R for graphic images of rape, murder, blood, and violence)

• Remember My Lai from an American Soldier Perspective (Rated R for graphic images of murder and violence)

Family Members Living Next to Auschwitz 

• Zone of interest (YouTube, 2 hours, $3.99)  (S)

Family Members Attacked by Italian Fascist Army 

• Gemma di Maggio "le marocchinate". Con la partecipazione di Franco Nero (YouTube, 17 mins)(Rated R for graphic images of rape, murder, blood, and violence)

  • Adjust subtitles to English using the Auto-translate feature in the gear icon if needed. 

  • Marocchinate (website discussing the case study from the textbook about the rape of Italian women as a reward for the spoils of war)

Syrian Prison Raids

• Assad's Prisons are 'Human Slaughterhouses'(video, 8 mins)(Rated R for graphic images of rape, murder, blood, and violence)

Young woman between the front lines in Germany

• Battle of Cologne 1945: A young woman between the frontlines (@ 6min mark)  (S)

• The Fate of Stalingrad’s Civilian Population (14 mins)