Videos from "Shall We Drone On?"

Have drones become the weapons of our age? These "unmanned aerial vehicles," sometimes used to assassinate human targets in remote areas, raise a host of constitutional, legal, moral and strategic questions. Here is a two part presentation from earlier this month that was sponsored by ACN and given by two faculty members from Ashland University. Dr. Craig Hovey is executive director of Ashland Center for Nonviolence and associate professor of religion and Dr. Michael Schwarz is assistant professor of history.

Matters of Faith:  Religion, Conflict, and Conflict Resolution

By Bridget Moix (taken from “The Handbook of Conflict Resolution”)

            “A brief survey of the most entrenched, deadly conflicts around the world suggests an urgent need for increased understanding of the role religion plays in human disputes.  From the Middle East to Northern Ireland, Sri Lanka to Sudan, the Balkans to Nigeria, from the poor Acholi region of Northern Uganda to the financial centers of New York City and London, the destructive power of religiously motivated violence has been a stark, horrific reality for people around the world.  Read more…

War Has Almost Ceased to Exist: An Assessment

By John Mueller

“In 1911, the eminent British historian, G.P. Gooch, concluded a book by elegiacally declaring that ‘we can now look forward with something like confidence to the time when war between civilized nations will be considered as antiquated as the duel, and when peacemakers shall be called the children of God.’  And in that year’s edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, Sir Thomas Barclay predicted, in the article on “Peace,” that ‘in no distant future, life among nations’ would be characterized by ‘law, order and peace among men.’“  Read more…

Drones, Accountability and Authorized Use of Military Force

Blogs by Michael Shank

“Armed drones, at first blush, are a boon to America's military toolkit, as President Obama reinforced in his counterterrorism speech [recently]. Drones, in the short run at least, could mean fewer U.S. troops deployed and fewer American lives lost.”  Read entire blog here

More blogs from Michael Shank:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/05/23/drones-obama-michael-shank-editorials-debates/2356555/

http://www.rollcall.com/news/keeping_america_accountable_in_the_war_zone_commentary-226316-1.html

http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2013/05/24/congress-must-sunset-the-authorization-for-use-of-military-force

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jul/09/afghanistan-us-military

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/may/05/authorization-use-military-force-blank-check

Drone Strikes and Daggers

By Dr. Craig Hovey

Last month we learned that a US drone strike on suspected Al-Qaida terrorists killed at least 13 people in Yemen who were on their way to a wedding. Many, perhaps all, were innocent.

Let’s talk morality. Too many of our public debates over violence and war are only legal debates, not moral ones. Discussing the second amendment in the gun debate is useful when debating law, but it is beside the moral point. After all, the first amendment legally protects your right to gossip, but doesn’t make it moral. Even though we will disagree on the particulars, let’s acknowledge that many more things are legal than are moral.

And nevermind accusations that the US drone program is illegal. But for now: What makes it immoral?