humanity questions 1130

The changing face of war has been apparent since the beginning of the 20th century. With the arrival of mechanized vehicles on land, air ships and planes in the skies, new classes of fighting ships on and below the seas had a devastating impact on the prosecution of many wars in the 20th century. Adjustments were made to accommodate the technology of warfare through the century, and now in the 21st century, technological advancement has again brought the issue of the changing face of battle, and the moral justification of how, when, and who to strike. Collateral damage, when weighed against security values behind the use of lethal technology, creates moral and constitutional issues for consideration.

The growing use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance has increased in the past decade. Armed drones (with missiles and bombs) have been used in Afghanistan and in other locations in prosecuting the war on terror. Operators sit at video consoles making decisions about when to apply lethal force. Because these unmanned planes can be flown around the clock, the pilots can take a break from battle at any time or even go home for dinner with their children. This unusual combination of spending all day in the theatre of war, and returning home for the evening is causing a new kind of battle stress that has not been known before.

Use of Military Drones

On September 30, 2011, an American citizen Anwar al-Awlaki who had called for a jihad against the United Sates was killed by an Armed Predator drone in Yemen. Two weeks later his sixteen year old son, who was also an American citizen was also killed in a CIA drone strike. Can American citizens be summarily executed without judicial due process? When citizens undertake to wage war against their country, do they forfeit their citizenship rights?

The Patriot Act

The Patriot Act passed by Congress 6 weeks after 9/11 has been the subject of much controversy. Among the most significant provisions:

· Easy access to records

· Expansion of the pen-register exception in wiretap law (loosening the evidence needed to show probable cause)

· More secret searches

Changing Scene of Security and Surveillance

Fundamental choices about our society - one author says our focus needs to change to look at the forest instead of individual trees, and that private sector surveillance at the behest of the government proves laws protecting privacy are pitifully weak. A new baseline of simple and clear privacy expectations that crosses all sectors of our lives with the force of law is needed. New Technologies need new and revised laws. The 4th Amendment to the Constitution needs to be revived and understood in contemporary terms.