To Take Care of Them: An Ethical Case Study of the Canal Incident

This book examines the moral permissibility of First Sergeant Hatley's decision to kill, and influence others to kill, four unarmed detainees near Baghdad Iraq in the spring of 2007. Ethics is an important topic for all members of the profession of arms to engage. With the seemingly constant news reports of ethical indiscretions by US Army Soldiers, many of them by senior US Army leaders, the need for continued PME dialogue within the ranks has become exceedingly clear. This Book will strive to do more than simply understand what took place next to that Baghdad canal; it will evaluate and analyze the killings. The questions the will attempt to be answered are, did First Sergeant Hatley possess an inherent right to defend himself against threats of deadly force? Because insurgent activity was so deadly, and because of significant planning deficiencies at the strategic level of war that created ambiguity at the tactical level, was taking care of the detainees his only option for survival? Could the detainees have been considered, by their very existence and presence in the AO regardless of their current posture at the time, imminent threats? Was he morally justified in acting preemptively?