To take care of them : an ethical case study of the canal incident

"This thesis examines the moral permissibility of First Sergeant John Hatley's decision to kill, and influence others to kill, four unarmed detainees near Baghdad in the spring of 2007. Ethics is an important topic for all members of the profession of arms. With the seemingly constant news reports of ethical indiscretions by U.S. Army Soldiers, many of them by senior U.S. Army leaders, the need for continued Professional Military Ethics (PME) dialogue within the ranks has become exceedingly clear. This thesis will strive to do more than simply understand what took place next to that Baghdad canal; it will evaluate and analyze the killings. The thesis attempts to answer the following questions: Did First Sergeant Hatley possess an inherent right to defend himself against threats of deadly force?, Was taking care of the detainees his only option for survival?, Could the detainees have been considered imminent threats?, and Was he morally justified in acting preemptively?"--Abstract.