Air Power, Insurgency and the “War on Terror” - Prof. Joel Hayward's ...

The use of <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Power</strong> Today: Have New Ethical Challenges Occurred?
“clear” picture of <strong>the</strong> battlefield glides from black <strong>and</strong> white into shades of grey <strong>the</strong> assets
of air power are less significant.
<strong>Air</strong> power has <strong>the</strong> potential to hit a target at almost any given place on <strong>the</strong> earth’s surface.
This has been promised by air power “prophets” <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>orists since <strong>the</strong> inter-war period.
Technological development has now made that “promise” reality. However, <strong>the</strong> ability to
decide what one should hit has not increased at <strong>the</strong> same pace. Targeting <strong>and</strong> dilemmas
in conjunction with it have been one of <strong>the</strong> permanent challenges since <strong>the</strong> infancy of
air power. The selection of targets results from human judgment. Even if technological
elements have apparently made <strong>the</strong> process of selecting targets much easier, <strong>the</strong> basis
is still <strong>the</strong> judgment of humans. One of <strong>the</strong> factors in <strong>the</strong> process of judgment is ethical
considerations. In targeting ethical dilemmas related to errors of judgement may arise.
The first element is to find <strong>the</strong> target, <strong>and</strong> evaluate if it is <strong>the</strong> right target to hit. 534
The
second element is to evaluate if <strong>the</strong> destruction of <strong>the</strong> target meets <strong>the</strong> desired goal of
<strong>the</strong> operation. One ethical perspective is: does <strong>the</strong> desired effect of destroying <strong>the</strong> target
meet <strong>the</strong> principles of proportionality <strong>and</strong> discrimination? The question in this section is
if targeting as a result of precision has created any new ethical challenges.
Fluid Battlefields
To a greater extent <strong>the</strong> potential ethical dilemmas can be considered when <strong>the</strong> targets
are determined prior to <strong>the</strong> engagement. Targeting cells have a mix of various specialists:
air planners, legal advisers, weaponeering personnel, etc. Personnel can assess <strong>the</strong>
physical damage potential of <strong>the</strong> different weapons. O<strong>the</strong>r weapons can be selected; <strong>the</strong>
angle of attack can be changed to minimise unintended damage. 535 Lieutenant Colonel
Dwight A. Roblyer points out that <strong>the</strong> US planners in Operation Enduring Freedom had
methodologies for assessing <strong>the</strong> possibility of collateral damage <strong>and</strong> casualties. It seems
perhaps natural that to a great extent <strong>the</strong> pre-planned missions can avoid unintended
harm or damage.
One of <strong>the</strong> features of <strong>the</strong> new wars <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> battle environment is that it is difficult to
distinguish combatants from non-combatants. Moreover, combatants are highly mobile
in <strong>the</strong>ir warfare. In response to western military technological supremacy <strong>the</strong> opponent’s
tactics are to be mobile, avoid making his soldiers static targets <strong>and</strong> mixing <strong>the</strong>m up with
<strong>the</strong> civilian population. In wars from Somalia onwards, western forces have had few
possibilities to plan for attacking static targets. Recent wars have shown how difficult it is
to plan an attack against non-static targets. The challenge is to meet <strong>the</strong> opponent with
air power in a mobile <strong>and</strong> mixed environment.
The air power response to <strong>the</strong> “fluid battle environment” is to have aircraft on CAP 537 with
appropriate means available to respond to short-notice requests to attack targets on <strong>the</strong>
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<strong>Air</strong> <strong>Power</strong>, <strong>Insurgency</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> “War on Terror”