Ethics and Military Strategy in the 21st Century by George R. Lucas Jr

Author:George R. Lucas, Jr. [George R. Lucas, Jr.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Military, Strategy, Philosophy, Ethics & Moral Philosophy, Political Science, International Relations, General
ISBN: 9781351745178
Google: 56yhDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2019-07-10T03:41:16+00:00

(4) The argument from insubordination

A very different form of organizational or sociological argument is this: soldiers do not need help being insubordinate. Most military training aims at breaking down or overcoming this natural competitive autonomy in the interests of greater teamwork. In fact, however, the entire command structure is routinely rife with insubordination. Military in the chain of command ridicule their superiors, abuse their subordinates, and express contempt for the procedures of sovereignty and legitimate authority all the time. Political and religious beliefs that should properly be set aside by those in uniform (according to Samuel P. Huntington and Dwight D. Eisenhower), in fact increasingly influence beliefs, habits, behaviors, and opinions among military personnel, and lead to contempt for civilians, for civil society, and for elected leaders (see Cook and Ulrich, 2009).

In addition, people, including soldiers, always have some reason to quarrel with or object to decisions that impose costs upon them. People frequently disrespect the judgment of their peers and superiors.7 During the Vietnam war, whose legitimacy was gravely in doubt, and whose “popularity” with conscripted rank and file was in no doubt whatsoever, historian Terry Anderson of Texas A&M University reported that “officer fragging” took the lives of 600 officers and senior enlisted, while the deaths of 1400 others were deemed suspicious.8

This is an extreme variation of the preceding functional and feasibility arguments: its upshot is that autonomy is not the goal, it is the problem. Irresponsible exercise of individual autonomy has to routinely be beaten down, lest it quickly get out of hand, and our democratic military services resemble their elitist counterparts in Latin America and the Middle East, or France in the 19th century, prone to violent overthrow of the government at the slightest provocation. Autonomy of this sort within a military organization is politically destabilizing and is not to be encouraged.

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