Quote:
Originally Posted by nutella virus
Fair enough. Create the cure and make the disease
I'm not exactly sure what that last sentence means. But I will tell you that there is always a tension in the minds of military people as to the morality of what they do. From the basic "thou shall not kill...unless it's in the national security interests of the United States and they're bad guys...or maybe neutral or innocent guys who happen to be in the vicinity of bad guys when they get killed", to issues of deception, mis and disinformation used to create a desired behavior in the target audience, etc, etc.
So how does a democracy balance those types of security needs and the means to achieve them with the "peacetime" values that are generally held?
Here's a little thought exercise to consider. (hypothetical of course). Let's say there are highly classified programs going on. Within that level of classification there might be what are called "acknowledged programs" and "unacknowledged programs". In both cases, the actual details of an operation can only be discussed with people with the appropriate security clearances and have been read onto the program. But with an acknowledged program (let's say the name is purple puppy), if you are asked in the course of your duties if you are aware of a program called Purple Puppy, you can answer yes. You can acknowledge its existence. But you still cant discuss any details about it.
But let's say Purple Puppy is an unacknowledged program. In that case, should you be asked if you are aware of operation Purple Puppy, you would answer NO, even though you are. So far so good.
But now you are called to testify under oath to Congress. You are sworn in, and are asked if you are aware of the program Purple Puppy. How do you answer that? To acknowledge it would mean breaking laws concerning the handling of classified material and exposing the program to dozens of people without the appropriate clearances. To say no would mean lying to congress under oath. What is the poor, middle rank military officer to do?
As much as people like to think in terms of black and white, good vs evil type scenarios, the truth is the world is covered in a blanket of gray.