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

Chapter 13
Low Resistance to Killing
High
Sexual Range
H<strong>and</strong>-to-H<strong>and</strong>-Combat Range
Knife Range
Bayonet Range
Close Range (Pistol/Rifle)
H<strong>and</strong>granade Range
Mid-Range (Rifle)
Long Range (Sniper, Anti-Armour Missiles, etc)
Max Range (Bomber, Artillery)
Close
Physical Distance from Target
Far
The diagram illustrates <strong>the</strong> distance to <strong>the</strong> target, <strong>the</strong> human who is to be killed. Grossman
describes a number of factors which make it easier to kill when <strong>the</strong>re is physical distance
between <strong>the</strong> killer <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> victim. The physical distance protects <strong>the</strong> killer from perceiving
how <strong>the</strong> victim feels. It is not possible to hear <strong>the</strong> screams or see <strong>the</strong> “burning bodies” from
thous<strong>and</strong>s of feet in <strong>the</strong> air. 561 Grossman names <strong>the</strong> distance – that is, <strong>the</strong> height above
<strong>the</strong> ground from which airmen drop ordnance – as <strong>the</strong> “moral distance”. 562 It should be
noted that Grossman drew his data from bombing during <strong>the</strong> Second World War, when
<strong>the</strong> ability to see <strong>the</strong> result of one’s own bombing was poorer. Today sensor <strong>and</strong> imagery
technology has made it possible to see <strong>the</strong> result of an attack almost instantly.
My point is that <strong>the</strong> physical distance corresponds to a mental distance <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>refore
has ethical implications. If distance makes it easier to kill, must this not affect airmen’s
ethical awareness? Does bombing from 15,000 feet give air power <strong>and</strong> airmen a kind of
anonymity? If so, does this anonymity provide some sort of self-defence <strong>and</strong> alienation,
thus creating an ethical shield? When killing is done from a distance, one should ra<strong>the</strong>r be
ethically more aware, due to <strong>the</strong> fact that <strong>the</strong> option of killing is easier.
The moral relevance of physical distance – <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> possible ethical challenges which
follow – are of increasing significance if <strong>the</strong> west continues to use air power to <strong>the</strong> extent
it has up to now.
<strong>Air</strong> <strong>Power</strong>, <strong>Insurgency</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> “War on Terror” 233