Bringing Normativity into Critical Terrorism Studies (Routledge Critical Terrorism Studies) by Alice Martini

Author:Alice Martini [Martini, Alice]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780367565619
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Published: 2020-12-17T08:00:00+00:00

Re-visioning the "Eye in the Sky"

The film Eye in the Sky, by Director Gavin Hood, is a recent Hollywood thriller which seeks to tackle as its main subject matter the controversial counter-terrorism practice of targeted drone assassinations. The framing of the film within ethical parameters is made clear by the way it stages an imminent suicide bombing attack in the heart of al-Shabaab-controlled Nairobi, Kenya. UK and US counterterrorism and security officials, in acquiescence with Kenyan security forces, become aware of the plot and are thus compelled to take decisive action to prevent what one assumes will be an act of mass murder, possibly taking place in the nearby busy market place. On the first layer of narrative, therefore, the film presents a scene which resembles perhaps commonly held assumptions about the ongoing "War on Terror," and certainly the one disseminated by Western officials: there is a violent group of fanatical terrorists who are not only a threat to Western societies, but who have little regard for innocent people in their own countries, and by extension human beings in general.

The first ethical dilemma played out for the viewer is therefore whether or not it is just to kill the group before they carry out their own attack. The ensuing exchanges that take place between British and US officials expose how such questions of life and death are negotiated within existing political and legal structures, and how the Western Self is demarcated from its terrorist Other. Interestingly, since one of the cell is a British citizen, and another an American, a greater regard for their lives is shown during the decision making process, although this is done with the intentions of avoiding negative media coverage. The cynicism of the British officials notwithstanding, the viewer's own responsibility for the "terrorist" Other is compromised as they are forced to contemplate the very real consequences of a suicide bombing in a heavily populated residential and commercial zone. A Levinasian approach to ethics forces one to not only accept responsibility for the terrorist Other - i.e. the 1 -to-1 relationship -, although this remains undeniable; one must also take account of and bear responsibility for the potential victims of the imminent terrorist attack.

The situation is soon complicated infinitely further, however, in what is essentially a re-formulation of the much discussed ethical hypothetical within Western philosophy: the "trolley dilemma" or "trolley problem". Known for the acute difficulties in reaching an acceptable conclusion, the ethical subject is faced with the following, seemingly intractable conundrum: a bystander is faced with a decision whereby they can prevent the certain deaths of five people by redirecting a runaway trolley, although this action is certain to kill 1 person, who is likewise deemed to be innocent. In Eye in the Sky, it is the life of a little girl Alia who is at risk as she places herself outside the terrorist safe-house to sell bread to nearby villagers, and as the counter-terrorism forces take aim at the building with a Hellfire missile.

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