PARTLY CLOUDY ETHICS IN WAR, ESPIONAGE, COVERT ACTION, AND INTERROGATION DAVID L. PERRY INTELLIGENCE • MILITARY Scarecrow Professional Intelligence Education Series, No. 6 Partly Cloudy: Ethics in War, Espionage, Covert Action, and Interrogation explores a number of wrenching ethical issues and challenges faced by mili- tary and intelligence personnel. David L. Perry provides a robust and practi- cal approach to analyzing ethical issues in war and intelligence operations and applies careful reasoning to issues of vital importance today, such as tor- turing detainees, employing espionage to penetrate terrorist cells, mounting covert action to undermine the power of hostile regimes, using discrimination and proportionality in military operations, avoiding atrocities in combat and counterinsurgency, and cultivating moral wisdom. Partly Cloudy is primarily intended to inform the ethical deliberations of U.S. military and intelligence officers, as well as relevant policymakers and lawmakers in our executive and legislative branches. But it will also be of interest to any citizen who cares about the ethical chal lenges faced by pub- lic servants. In addi tion, instructors will find this book useful in courses on normative or practical ethics, politi cal philosophy, political science, military leadership, intelligence studies, and international relations. DAVID L. PERRY is director of the Vann Center for Ethics at Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina. For orders and information please contact the publisher SCARECROW PRESS, INC. A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200 Lanham, Maryland 20706 1-800-462-6420 • fax 717-794-3803 www.scarecrowpress.com PARTLY CLOUDY PERRY ETHICS IN WAR, ESPIONAGE, COVERT ACTION, AND INTERROGATION PartlyCloudyPBK.indd 1PartlyCloudyPBK.indd 1 4/22/09 4:52:08 PM4/22/09 4:52:08 PM Scarecrow Professional Intelligence Education Series Series Editor: Jan Goldman In this post–September 11, 2001 era, there has been rapid growth in the number of professional intelligence training and educational programs across the United States and abroad. Colleges and univer- sities, as well as high schools, are developing programs and courses in homeland security, intelligence analysis, and law enforcement, in support of national security. The Scarecrow Professional Intelligence Education Series (SPIES) was first designed for individuals studying for careers in intelligence and to help improve the skills of those already in the profession; how- ever, it was also developed to educate the public in how intelligence work is conducted and should be conducted in this important and vital profession. 1. Communicating with Intelligence: Writing and Briefing in the In- telligence and National Security Communities by James S. Major. 2008. 2. A Spy’s Résumé: Confessions of a Maverick Intelligence Professional and Misadventure Capitalist by Marc Anthony Viola. 2008. 3. An Introduction to Intelligence Research and Analysis by Jerome Clauser, revised and edited by Jan Goldman. 2008. 4. Writing Classified and Unclassified Papers for National Security: A Scarecrow Professional Intelligence Educational Series Manual by James S. Major. 2009. 5. Strategic Intelligence: A Handbook for Practitioners, Managers, and Users, revised edition by Don McDowell. 2009. 6. Partly Cloudy: Ethics in War, Espionage, Covert Action, and Inter- rogation by David L. Perry. 2009. PARTLY CLOUDY ETHICS IN WAR, ESPIONAGE, C OVERT ACTION, AND I NTERROGATION David L. Perry Jan Goldman Series Editor Scarecrow Professional Intelligence Education Series, No. 6 The Scarecrow Press, Inc. Lanham, Maryland • Toronto • Plymouth, UK 2009 SCARECROW PRESS, INC. Published in the United States of America by Scarecrow Press, Inc. A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706 www.scarecrowpress.com Estover Road Plymouth PL6 7PY United Kingdom Copyright © 2009 by David L. Perry All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Perry, David L. , 1959– Partly cloudy : ethics in war, espionage, covert action, and interrogation / David L. Perry. p. cm. — (Scarecrow professional intelligence education series ; No. 6) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-0-8108-6758-1 (pbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8108-6306-4 (ebook) 1. Military ethics–United States. 2. War–Moral and ethical aspects–United States. 3. Espionage, American–Moral and ethical aspects. 4. Military interrogation–Moral and ethical aspects–United States. I. Title. U22.P45 2009 172'.42–dc22 2008052812 ϱ ™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992. Manufactured in the United States of America. I dedicate this book to my parents, Janice and Glenn; to my sister- in-law, Lisa, and my nephews, Drew, Scott, and Eric; to the memory of my late brother, Bruce; and to the memory of my late mentor and friend, David Knutson. vii CONTENTS EDITOR’S FOREWORD ix PREFACE xi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xv 1 AN INTRODUCTION TO ETHICAL REASONING 1 2 COMPARATIVE RELIGIOUS PERSPECTIVES ON WAR 25 3 JUST AND UNJUST WAR IN SHAKESPEARE’S HENRY V 57 4 ANTICIPATING AND PREVENTING ATROCITIES IN WAR 71 5 THE CIA’S ORIGINAL “SOCIAL CONTRACT” 91 6 THE KGB: THE CIA’S TRADITIONAL ADVERSARY 113 7 ESPIONAGE 133 8 COVERT ACTION 163 viii CONTENTS 9 INTERROGATION 199 10 CONCLUDING REFLECTIONS 239 ABOUT THE AUTHOR 247 ix EDITOR’S FOREWORD I ntelligence professionals require attributes common to many other professions, including excellent verbal and oral communi- cation skills and a currency of knowledge. For example, intelligence professionals must know the latest techniques and methods used in the profession, as well as the trends and patterns of new knowledge. Since the end of the Cold War, the threat to U.S. national security has shifted from conventional warfare to asymmetrical warfare. Instead of collecting information on tanks and aircraft, the intelli- gence community is looking for terrorist encampments in extremely rugged terrain. The aim of this series is to provide publications that enable individuals entering the profession, as well as those already in it, to develop and sharpen their skills and knowledge. As in any true profession, ethical engagement between individuals and their work must be brought to the forefront if that profession seeks to garner the respect of those served by the intelligence community. It is also extremely important for intelligence professionals to think about their individual conduct and how far they are willing to go in pur- suit of their professional objectives. Partly Cloudy is the first book in this series to address ethical issues in intelligence in great depth. But it is not the first book in that field from this publisher: Scarecrow Press in 2006 published a 400-page anthology that I edited called Ethics of Spying: A Reader [...]... military leadership, intelligence studies, and international relations Chapter 1, “An Introduction to Ethical Reasoning,” begins by exploring the nature and scope of ethics, distinguishing between normative and empirical disciplines, and noting similarities and differences between ethics, law and etiquette Next, a framework for analyzing ethical theories and claims is outlined and used to categorize... Philosophy’: Ethics, Espionage, and Covert Action, Journal of Conflict Studies 15, no 1 (Spring 1995): 92–115, and reprinted in Ethics of Spying: A Reader for the Intelligence Professional, ed Jan Goldman (Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2006), 221–47 I’m indebted to David Charters for publishing my 1995 article and to Jan Goldman not only for including the piece in his 2006 anthology but for encouraging me... dilemmas and issues truly intractable, even when subjected to our most diligent ethical scrutiny; but other ethical choices are uncontroversial, while still others can be clarified and resolved in spite of their complexity In other words, even in xi PREFACE regard to war, espionage, covert action, and interrogation, our moral choices on the whole are only partly cloudy This book is primarily intended to inform... efficiency in killing enemy soldiers; risk of increasing indifference to the suffering and death of enemy soldiers and civilians; desire to inflict gratuitous suffering, destruction, rape.) What does military honor require before, during, and after battle? How can military commanders train, lead, and manage soldiers in ways that will help prevent them from developing immoral dispositions, without making them... meaning and significance of human life It is endlessly fascinating but not always pretty xiv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS T his book was more than twenty years in the making, though not as a continuous project to the exclusion of other work Most of my teaching and writing from 1989 to 2003 focused instead on biomedical and business ethics In the early 1980s, at the University of Chicago Divinity School, I was introduced... want to live in a world where no one else was obliged to take seriously your rights and well-being either? 1 Compassion: concern for the well-being of others; avoiding inflicting suffering; preventing and alleviating others’ suffering; meeting the needs of the most vulnerable; promoting others’ happiness (teleological) 2 Fairness: treating people the way they deserve to be treated, as having equal rights... categories: secret support for foreign political leaders and parties, covert coups against unfriendly governments, and assassinations and other targeted killings xiii PREFACE Chapter 9, Interrogation, ” examines a series of wrenching questions that emerged in the wake of the 9-11 attacks and continue to provoke debate today: Do ruthless enemies warrant ruthless interrogation methods? Does torture ever work?... Principles,” Teaching Ethics, January 2005, www.ethicsineducation.com/HenryV.pdf (23 November 2008); and “Why Hearts and Minds Matter: Chivalry and Humanity, Even in Counterinsurgency, Are Not Obsolete,” Armed Forces Journal, September 2006, 40–44 I’m grateful to all of the respective editors for allowing me to incorporate in this book revised versions of articles that they previously published In. .. laws and customs in this country and elsewhere that have historically treated women and minorities as less than full citizens (to say the least) I assume that most readers of this book have developed what might be called the “standard equipment” of ethics: sympathy with the suffering of others, a sense of fairness and injustice, and habits of telling the truth and keeping promises even when doing so... other innocent people? 2 What might count as just cause for waging war? Defense against invasion? Retaliation or retribution after being invaded or attacked? Preempting an imminent threat? Preventing a grave but less imminent threat? Protecting foreign civilians (humanitarian intervention)? 3 Who has the right to declare war and authorize military forces to wage it? Any supreme authority in a state (including . Managers, and Users, revised edition by Don McDowell. 2009. 6. Partly Cloudy: Ethics in War, Espionage, Covert Action, and Inter- rogation by David L. Perry. 2009. PARTLY CLOUDY ETHICS IN WAR, ESPIONAGE,. PARTLY CLOUDY ETHICS IN WAR, ESPIONAGE, COVERT ACTION, AND INTERROGATION DAVID L. PERRY INTELLIGENCE • MILITARY Scarecrow Professional Intelligence Education Series, No. 6 Partly Cloudy: Ethics. Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Cataloging -in- Publication Data Perry, David L. , 1959– Partly cloudy : ethics in war, espionage, covert action, and interrogation