The New York Times has recently reported that President Obama has authorized the use of drones in targeted attacks against those suspected of being enemy combatants, including at least one American citizen. According to the Times, one of the leading architects of current U.S. drone policy, John Brennan, is the President’s nominee for CIA Director. Those killed in the strikes include Anwar al-Awiaki, an American citizen who reportedly worked with al-Qaida when he was killed in Yemen in 2011.
Scott Shane, a writer for the Times, filed a Freedom of Information lawsuit against the Justice Department to obtain a memo from the Office of Legal Counsel detailing the justification for killing American citizens without trial (or other due process) as part of a counterterrorism operation.
Questions arise concerning the possible use of drones against those suspected of being enemy combatants on American soil, and the possible use of drones by foreign states against its own citizens, in other countries (for instance, Russia sending a drone to kill a suspected terrorist in Georgia).
Comment on both of these, using Kant’s and Bentham’s theories. Justify your reponse.
Course Bibliography and Required Readings:
Sandel, Michael J., Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do?, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York. ISBN: 978-0374-18065-2.
Solomon & Murphy., What is Justice? Classic and Contemporary Readings, 2nd Ed., Oxford University Press, New York. ISBN: 978-0-19-512810-9.
Souryal, Sam S., Ethics in Criminal Justice: In Search of the Truth, Anderson Publishing, Boston, ISBN: 978-1-4377-5590-9.
Wilson, James Q., The Moral Sense, Free Press, New York. ISBN: 0-02-935405-6.