Intelligent Essays

Morals of Intelligence

2008-06-11T20:17:00.001-07:00

While discussing intelligence operations and its related covert functions, the issue of ethics and morals arises. Philosophers have divided morals into three areas: metaethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics. A brief investigation into the philosophy of morals and ethics (and its inherent elusive definition) helps one better understand how morals apply to intelligence activities. While many perceive spying and espionage as immoral due to the nature of deception and surrounding levels of secrecy found in its operations, moral judgments have governed intelligence related functions since before the U.S. gained its independence from England. Due to the potential loss of human life and domestic and international implications and values, morals, as defined by the public, must continue as a guiding force in planning and conducting intelligence operations.

When discussing morals three categories of ethical philosophy arise. First, metaethics, the most theoretical area of moral philosophy, deals with questions surrounding the nature of morality. Next, normative ethics is concerned with providing a moral framework to determine what is right and wrong. Normative ethics theory is divided further by assigning the morality to the actor, the action or the consequence. The normative philosopher might ask, “Is the assassin, the assassination, or the outcome right or wrong?” while the metaethics truth-seeker would ask, “Is there right and wrong” or, “Moral, compared with what?” Lastly, applied ethics is the most practical philosophy and applies normative ethics theory to specific cases, identifying the morally just choice. Author, Loch Johnson, identified 38 individual covert intelligence operations and ranked them morally according to applied ethics theory. While understanding that nearly every person has a different outlook and opinion on individual and conceptual morals, it is important to understand that, in a democracy, the public must define what general moral philosophy is appropriate and should be employed by the government and its intelligence agencies.

The United States has depended on spy craft since the times of George Washington and his contemporaries. One of America’s first spies, Revolutionary War officer Nathan Hale, supposed, “Every kind of service necessary to the public good becomes honorable by being necessary.” Standing outside of CIA headquarters, a statue of Hale reminds and suggests to its employees that the ends justify the means. If this assumption is correct, do conventional morals have any bearing on the daily operations and covert actions undertaken by intelligence operatives? The answer depends on the responder’s perspective, whether they take a realist or idealist view and how they define morality and ethics.

Many writers have considered the morality of war and intelligence activities as functions of war and attempted to define it. Italian political philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) argued in The Prince, that the security of the state is so important that it may justify certain acts by the ruler that would be forbidden to other individuals not burdened by the responsibility of assuring that security. Some may consider this view immoral, while others argue that political leaders must follow a code of conduct different from that of the average citizen. By observing two distinct codes of ethics: first, conventional religious ethics concerned with salvation of the soul and, second, moral obligations of rulers, who must provide for national security, one can see how, as an individual, the ruler should be “good” in the conventional sense, yet be willing to practice “evil” if the duties of governance require. From the Machiavellian perspective, the rulers are morally bound (above conventional morality) to provide for the security of the state- this idea is the prevailing perspective amongst the intelligence community and government at large.

Despite the morality that many believe to be inherent in government service, others, including the father of U.S modern intelligence, Herbert Yardley, consider intelligence and its related covert activities less than respectable. After a trip to Europe, Yardley concluded that the British cipher bureaus “had a long and dark history, backed by a ruthless and intelligent espionage,” and that Great Britain was an international power due to such behavior. Yardley concluded that to gain “equal footing” with European powers, the United States needed to build and finance a team of skilled intelligence officers. His outlook parallels many others, both within and without of the Intelligence Community, that intelligence operations are an unavoidable evil that help to ensure the survival of the sovereign state and the protection of its citizens.

Without federal government, national anarchy would prevail. In fact, the world is in a state of international anarchy at present due to the lack of a strong international governing body. Englishman Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) was concerned with the lack of a global government, “There must be some coercive power to compel men equally to the performance of their covenants, by the terror of some punishment, greater than the benefit they expect by the breach of their covenant.” Today, the United Nations serves as an international governing body, yet, it often lacks the strength and unity to “compel [nations] … to the performance of their covenants.” Without a strong international power to enforce law, it is incumbent among individual nations to seek self-preservation and build a hegemonic power. Without a legitimate and powerful international government, there are no moral obligations to govern the relations of states and each state must fend for itself, employing all means available- including war and spy craft.

The U.S. government has, through elected and non-elected leaders, identified broad morals and codes of ethics to be followed in both domestic and international situations. Consider the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, these documents identify inherent “truths” and “rights” that must, according to the Founding Fathers, be respected and defended. The Fourth Amendment prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures by the government of U.S. persons, thus creating a law and standard for intelligence and law enforcement agencies to adhere. If following the Constitution and law is the “right thing to do,” and thus, moral in the classical sense, the Intelligence Community should aggressively seek to follow its guidance and standards as interpreted by the Judicial Branch.

Various organizations and judges have added to the Fourth Amendment and helped define what it means to the present day government and its various branches. The National Security Agency abides by the Fourth Amendment and, according to the Director of the NSA, its employees follow “USSID 18, which is kind of our library of instructions of how to conduct SIGINT and protect privacy.” These laws and guidance, created by nationally elected leaders, reflect the moral sentiment desired by the people of the United States. The Intelligence Community is morally bound to follow these directives and exercise the will of the people. Although government edicts are often incredible long and seem to cover every situation that may arise, inevitably, cases arise that require the moral judgment of an individual. This person must, to the best of his or her ability, choose the moral right and exercise what he or she believes to be what the will of the people to be.

Certainly, there are intelligence activities that are more controversial than others are. In attempting to define the moral “right,” intelligence strategists have identified an array of both overt and covert activities that the United States may apply against other nations and actors. These activities are categorized based on their level of “intrusiveness … from nonforcible to forcible intervention.” With potential intelligence activities listed and grouped into categories, it becomes clear that some actions carry more risk to human life than others do, and before employment, must meet certain criteria. Generally, the higher the risk for loss of human life, the more controversial and questionable the activity becomes. Additionally, exceptions are provided for in times of war or during a national or international crisis. Because the public allows exceptions to the morality of governance, “morals” may be reduced to “justifiable action” when applied to government.

Justifiable action was the code of ethics within the U.S. Intelligence Community from the 1950’s until 1975. During this era, the CIA planned coup d'états of freely elected governments and assassinations of foreign leaders while the NSA and FBI were regularly accused of spying on American citizens and politicians, as evidenced by the Watergate scandal. Perhaps, due to the fear of nuclear annihilation from the Soviet Union, the public may have condoned many covert activities that would now be shunned. Others argue that the morally questionable covert activities conducted during the 50’s through the 70’s, however repugnant, resulted in the survival and ultimate success of the United States and the downfall of the Soviet Union. These actions and others echo the tenets of Machiavelli, Hale and Yardley- immoral in the general sense, yet necessary for the survival of the government, thus morally justified.

Additionally, the metaethics philosophy must be considered when comparing the covert intelligence actions of the United States with the actions of other nations. On July 10, 1985, a bomb tore a 3 ½ by 10-foot hole in the engine room of the Rainbow warrior; a second bomb destroyed the ship’s propulsion system and killed one person. French officers of the DGSE placed the bombs in order to prevent the ship’s owners, Greenpeace, from interfering with French underground nuclear tests. Six and a half years earlier, on Christmas night in 1979, a KGB special operations team led an assault on the Afghan palace, which was guarded by 300 loyal guardsmen and 3,000 regular soldiers. By KGB design, the attack left no survivors. In comparison of these despicable, yet possibly justified operations, the metaethics philosopher asks, “How virtuous is the United States, relative to the operations and methods of other nations?”

When comparing the actions of other nations against those of the U.S., one finds that the United States is not innocent of wrongdoing in past covert and overt affairs. The bungled Bay of Pigs operation and subsequent death and capture of Cuban ex-patriots and the slaughter of hundreds, if not thousands, of Panamanians during the deposition of Manuel Noriega are but a sample of U.S. deeds that are morally questionable. When asked about the 23 U.S. soldiers who had died, and the 324 wounded during the capture of Panama, President George Bush responded, “Every human life is precious, and yet I have to answer, yes, it has been worth it.” The morality and virtue of these U.S. intelligence operations and more has been the subject of debate for years and debate of new operations will likely continue in the face of recently revealed information concerning the NSA domestic spy program and the recent U.S. involvement in the wars in the Middle East.

During times of war, extreme measures are often permitted by leaders and citizens as required for the preservation of the state. The Bush administration declared that the United States is in a state of war against terrorism- paving the way for use of extreme measures. By declaring a war that may never conceivably end, the U.S. may officially be in a “state of war” indefinitely. Official war or not, Hobbes broached the subject of perpetual war hundreds of years before, “In all times, kings, and persons of sovereign authority… are in continual jealousies… having their weapons pointing, and their eyes fixed on one another… and continual spies upon their neighbours; which is a posture of war.” Acknowledging the actual state of affairs justifies the use of security measures preserved for use only in war times and allows for unconventional collection and exploitation of intelligence and security measures- as evidenced by the Patriot Act and NSA domestic wiretapping program.

In addition to the ethics and morality surrounding individual intelligence operations, one must consider the moral obligation of the United States to protect the innocent, without regard for citizenship. Does the U.S. have a duty to depose tyrants and oppressive governments or an obligation to defend other democratic nations? As the world’s only superpower, many argue that the United States is the only country with the means to confront unjust dictators and defend the defenseless and its leaders are morally bound to do so, employing intelligence activities to achieve the desired outcome. Others dispute that the U.S. should not meddle in the affairs of other countries and it would be unethical to interfere in the politics and domestics policies of foreign nations. Regardless of the stance one takes on the issue described, morals and ethics must guide the decision to wield military and intelligence activities in effort to influence foreign nations.

Some intelligence operations are designed to secure the interests of the U.S. by supporting dissident factions in enemy nations. Intelligence activities concerning the Kurds during the first Gulf War, and the aid and weapons the U.S. supplied to them is evidence of the dual nature of many intelligence operations. On the one hand, the aid helped the starving and oppressed nomadic Kurds in Northern Iraq. On the other hand, the weapons were intended to build support for the U.S. and incite the violent overthrow of Saddam Hussein. In the end, the U.S. military did not provide sufficient support to the Kurds and the operation ended in the slaughter of nearly two hundred thousand Kurds by the vengeful Saddam seeking retribution for the uprising. Many consider the entire operation immoral by pointing out that the U.S. should have not interfered with the domestic policies of Iraq and second, leaving the Kurds to die after promising them support resulted in deaths of thousands. Others defend the actions, claiming that the decisions made in the operation were in the best interest of American security at the time and thus, the decisions were morally just. As evidenced by the equally convincing views taken by the moral opponents, it is clear that moral decisions are not easily made and an operation can be both moral and immoral.

Does supporting a third party in a morally unjust act make the supporting nation immoral as well? The United States is very familiar with surrogate wars and murderous operations. The building up and training of the Taliban militia in Afghanistan is a prime example of how the United States avoided a direct war with the Soviet Union, thus morally preserving American blood and resources, yet by supporting a humanely cruel society and tribal government, the U.S. could be considered responsible for Afghanistan’s immoral transgressions. Additionally, the United States morally helped a weaker nation fight against an oppressive communist regime.

Conversely, providing weapons to Afghani tribesmen helped to build a nation where human rights violations and drug use is rampant, creating an immoral situation. Further, the subsequent environment became a training ground for many Muslim extremists and the safe haven for America’s most wanted terrorists, including Bin Laden. The subsequent war with the Taliban and Islamists, which the United States helped to train and arm, which ensued after the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, caused many to consider the irony of the situation. The multi-faceted outcome of this covert/overt action leaves many moral and ethical questions unanswered and open to perpetual deliberation.

In sum, philosophers have debated ethics and morals for millennia and will likely continue to debate for as long as they have the ability to express their differences of opinion. Because each person, state and nation is influenced by different ideals, and because each value life, property and freedom differently, morals and ethics in a democracy will be ever changing and adapting to the predominate viewpoint of the majority. By electing people perceived as moral leaders, who represent the nation’s values, the United States, is in a good position to make morally just choices in utilizing its intelligence agencies. Congressional hearings, public information disclosures, accountability, free elections and a transparent government are essential to the morality of the nation; these national attributes will help to set the standard for national and international interactions, thus, bringing morality and order to the world.

Bibliography

Charges Facing Saddam Hussein (BBC Online); published July 2004 Available from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3320293.stm

Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan. (ed. Michael Oakeshott) New York and London: Collier Macmillan, 1974.
Holt, Tim, Moral Philosophy [webpage] accessed 19 November 2006 available from: http://www.moralphilosophy.info/

Johnson, Loch. Secret agencies: U.S. intelligence in a hostile world. Yale University, 1996.
King, Michael. The Death of the Rainbow Warrior. London: Penguin, 1986.
New York Times, 22 December 1989, 1.
Normative Ethical Principles and Theories: A Brief Overview. [webpage] accessed 19 November 2006 available from: http://www.stedwards.edu/ursery/norm.htm

Office of the Director of National Intelligence, [webpage] accessed 19 November 2006, available from: http://www.dni.gov/speeches/20060123_speech.htm

Service, Quotation Book. [webpage] accessed 18 November 2006 available from: http://www.quotationsbook.com/quotes/35981/view

Sunday Times Insight Team, Rainbow Warrior. London: Hutchinson, 1986.
Viotti, Paul and Mark Kauppi. International Relations Theory. Allyn and Bacon, 1999.
Weber, Max. Politics as a Vocation in From Max Webber: Essays in Sociology. (eds. H.H. Gerth and C. Wright Mills) New York: Oxford University Press, 1946, 1978.
Woodeman, Nathan X. Yardley Revisited. Studies in Intelligence 27, no. 2, 1983.

Things caused by global warming

2008-05-04T13:27:00.001-07:00

A complete list of things caused by global warming

Acne, agricultural land increase, Afghan poppies destroyed, Africa devastated, African aid threatened, Africa in conflict, aggressive weeds, air pressure changes, Alaska reshaped, allergies increase, Alps melting, Amazon a desert, American dream end, amphibians breeding earlier (or not), anaphylactic reactions to bee stings, ancient forests dramatically changed, animals head for the hills, Antarctic grass flourishes, Antarctic ice grows, Antarctic ice shrinks, Antarctic sea life at risk, anxiety treatment, algal blooms, archaeological sites threatened, Arctic bogs melt, Arctic in bloom, Arctic ice free, Arctic lakes disappear, Arctic tundra to burn, Atlantic less salty, Atlantic more salty, atmospheric circulation modified, attack of the killer jellyfish, avalanches reduced, avalanches increased, Baghdad snow, Bahrain under water, bananas grow, beer shortage, beetle infestation, bet for $10,000, better beer, big melt faster, billion dollar research projects, billion homeless, billions face risk, billions of deaths, bird distributions change, bird visitors drop, birds confused, birds return early, birds driven north, bittern boom ends, blackbirds stop singing, blizzards, blue mussels return, bluetongue, brains shrink, bridge collapse (Minneapolis), Britain Siberian, British gardens change, brothels struggle, brown Ireland, bubonic plague, budget increases, Buddhist temple threatened, building collapse, building season extension, bushfires, business opportunities, business risks, butterflies move north, camel deaths, cancer deaths in England, cannibalism, cataracts, caterpillar biomass shift, cave paintings threatened, childhood insomnia, Cholera, circumcision in decline, cirrus disappearance, civil unrest, cloud increase, cloud stripping, cockroach migration, coffee threatened, cold climate creatures survive, cold spells (Australia), cold wave (India), computer models, conferences, conflict, conflict with Russia, consumers foot the bill, coral bleaching, coral reefs dying, coral reefs grow, coral reefs shrink , cost of trillions, cougar attacks, cradle of civilisation threatened, crime increase, crocodile sex, crops devastated, crumbling roads, buildings and sewage systems, curriculum change, cyclones (Australia), danger to kid's health, Darfur, Dartford Warbler plague, death rate increase (US), Dengue hemorrhagic fever, depression, desert advance, desert retreat, destruction of the environment, disappearance of coastal cities, diseases move north, Dolomites collapse, drought, ducks and geese decline, dust bowl in the corn belt, early marriages, early spring, earlier pollen season, Earth biodiversity crisis, Earth dying, Earth even hotter, Earth light dimming, Earth lopsided, Earth melting, Earth morbid fever, Earth on fast track, Earth past point of no return, Earth slowing down, Earth spins faster, Earth to explode, earth upside down, Earth wobbling, earthquakes, El Niño intensification, end of the world as we know it, erosion, emerging infections, encephalitis, English villages lost, equality threatened, Europe simultaneously baking and freezing, eutrophication, evolution accelerating, expansion of university climate groups, extinctions (human, civilisation, logic, Inuit, smallest butterfly, cod, ladybirds, pikas, polar bears, gorillas, walrus, whales, frogs, toads, plants, salmon, trout, wild flowers, woodlice, penguins, a million species, half of all animal and plant species, mountain species, not polar bears, barrier reef, leaches), experts muzzled, extreme changes to California, fading fall foliage, fainting, famine, farmers go under, fashion disaster, fever,figurehead sacked, fir cone bonanza, fish catches drop, fish downsize, fish catches rise, fish deaf, fish get lost, fish stocks at risk, fish stocks decline, five million illnesses, flesh eating disease, flood patterns change, floods, floods of beaches and cities, flood of migrants, flood preparation for crisis, Florida economic decline, flowers in peril, food poisoning, food prices rise, food prices soar, food security threat (SA), footpath erosion, forest decline, forest expansion, frog with extra heads, frostbite, frost damage increased, frosts, fungi fruitful, fungi invasion, games change, Garden of Eden wilts, genetic diversity decline, gene pools slashed, giant oysters invade, giant pythons invade, giant squid migrate, gingerbread houses collapse, glacial earthquakes, glacial retreat, glacial growth, glacier wrapped, global cooling, global dimming, glowing clouds, god melts, golf Masters wrecked, Gore omnipresence, grandstanding, grasslands wetter, Great Barrier Reef 95% dead, Great Lakes drop, greening of the North, Grey whales lose weight, Gulf Stream failure, habitat loss, Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, harmful algae, harvest increase, harvest shrinkage, hay fever epidemic, health affected, health of children harmed, heart disease, heart attacks and strokes (Australia), heat waves, hibernation affected, hibernation ends too soon, hibernation ends too late, HIV epidemic, homeless 50 million, hornets, high court debates, human development faces unprecedented reversal, human fertility reduced, human health improvement, human health risk, human race oblivion, hurricanes, hurricane reduction, hydropower problems, hyperthermia deaths, ice sheet growth, ice sheet shrinkage, ice shelf collapse, illness and death, inclement weather, India drowning, infrastructure failure (Canada), industry threatened, infectious diseases, inflation in China, insect explosion, insurance premium rises, Inuit displacement, Inuit poisoned, Inuit suing, invasion of cats, invasion of herons, invasion of jellyfish, invasion of midges, island disappears, islands sinking, itchier poison ivy, jellyfish explosion, jets fall from sky, jet stream drifts north, Kew Gardens taxed, killing us, kitten boom, krill decline, lake and stream productivity decline, lake empties, lake shrinking and growing, landslides, landslides of ice at 140 mph, lawsuits increase, lawsuit successful, lawyers' income increased (surprise surprise!), lives saved, Loch Ness monster dead, lush growth in rain forests, Malaria, mammoth dung melt, Maple production advanced, Maple syrup shortage, marine diseases, marine food chain decimated, Meaching (end of the world), Mediterranean rises, megacryometeors, Melanoma, methane emissions from plants, methane burps, methane runaway, melting permafrost, Middle Kingdom convulses, migration, migration difficult (birds), migratory birds huge losses, microbes to decompose soil carbon more rapidly, minorities hit, monkeys on the move, Mont Blanc grows, monuments imperiled, moose dying, more bad air days, more research needed, mortality increased, mountain (Everest) shrinking, mountains break up, mountains melting, mountains taller, mortality lower, narwhals at risk, National security implications, natural disasters quadruple, new islands, next ice age, NFL threatened, Nile delta damaged, noctilucent clouds, no effect in India, Northwest Passage opened, nuclear plants bloom, oaks dying, oaks move north, ocean acidification, ocean deserts expand, ocean waves speed up, opera house to be destroyed, outdoor hockey threatened, ozone repair slowed, ozone rise, Pacific dead zone, personal carbon rationing, pest outbreaks, pests increase, phenology shifts, plankton blooms, plankton destabilised, plankton loss, plant viruses, plants march north, polar bears aggressive, polar bears cannibalistic, polar bears drowning, polar bears starve, polar tours scrapped, popcorn rise, porpoise astray, profits collapse, psychiatric illness, puffin decline, railroad tracks deformed, rainfall increase, rape wave, refugees, release of ancient frozen viruses, resorts disappear, rice threatened, rice yields crash, rift on Capitol Hill, rioting and nuclear war, river flow impacted, rivers raised, roads wear out, robins rampant, rocky peaks crack apart, roof of the world a desert, rooftop bars, Ross river disease, ruins ruined, salinity reduction, salinity increase, Salmonella, satellites accelerate, school closures, sea level rise, sea level rise faster, seals mating more, sewer bills rise, severe thunderstorms, sex change, sexual promiscuity, sharks booming, sharks moving north, sheep shrink, shop closures, short-nosed dogs endangered, shrinking ponds, shrinking shrine, ski resorts threatened, skin cancer, slow death, smaller brains, smog, snowfall increase, snowfall heavy, snowfall reduction, soaring food prices, societal collapse, songbirds change eating habits, sour grapes, space problem, spectacular orchids, spiders invade Scotland, squid aggressive giants, squid population explosion, squirrels reproduce earlier, storms wetter, stormwater drains stressed, street crime to increase, subsidence, suicide, swordfish in the Baltic, Tabasco tragedy, taxes, tectonic plate movement, teenage drinking, terrorism, threat to peace, ticks move northward (Sweden), tides rise, tornado outbreak, tourism increase, trade barriers, trade winds weakened, traffic jams, transportation threatened, tree foliage increase (UK), tree growth slowed,, trees could return to Antarctic, trees in trouble, trees less colourful, trees more colourful, trees lush, tropics expansion, tropopause raised, truffle shortage, turtles crash, turtles lay earlier, UK coastal impact, UK Katrina, Vampire moths, Venice flooded, volcanic eruptions, walrus pups orphaned, walrus stampede, war, wars over water, wars sparked, wars threaten billions, water bills double, water supply unreliability, water scarcity (20% of increase), water stress, weather out of its mind, weather patterns awry, weeds, Western aid cancelled out, West Nile fever, whales move north, wheat yields crushed in Australia, wildfires, wind shift, wind reduced, wine - harm to Australian industry, wine industry damage (California), wine industry disaster (US), wine - more English, wine -German boon, wine - no more French , wine passé (Napa), winters in Britain colder, winter in Britain dead, witchcraft executions, wolves eat more moose, wolves eat less, workers laid off, World at war, World bankruptcy, World in crisis, World in flames, Yellow fever.

and all on 0.006 deg C per year!

Advice of any omissions (with sources) or broken links is welcome at warmlist@numberwatch.co.uk

Note: All links were live at time of posting. Inevitably some will disappear, particularly from Yahoo News.

Thanks to correspondents for additional entries; especially, as always, Our Man in Puerto Rico. Also, thanks to "Scraperguy" for the script to form the following:

The dead link collection

Africa hit hardest, anxiety, asthma, atmospheric defiance, bananas destroyed, boredom, cardiac arrest, challenges and opportunities, cod go south, cold spells, cremation to end, damages equivalent to $200 billion, dermatitis, desert life threatened, diarrhoea, drowning people, Earth spinning out of control, extinctions (bats, pandas, pigmy possums, koalas, turtles, orang-utan, elephants, tigers,) god melts, hazardous waste sites breached, human health improvement, lightning related insurance claims, little response in the atmosphere, Lyme disease, malnutrition, marine dead zone, mental illness (Alberta), mudslides, oblivion, oyster diseases, ozone loss, plankton loss, plant viruses, psychosocial disturbances, rainfall reduction, reindeer larger, riches, rivers dry up, rockfalls, salmon stronger, shrimp sex problems, tree beetle attacks, tree growth increased, tsunamis, walrus displaced, , white Christmas dream ends.

Suggestions for replacement links are welcome.

Morals of Intelligence

2008-04-18T19:07:00.000-07:00

While discussing intelligence operations and its related covert functions, the issue of ethics and morals arises. Philosophers have divided morals into three areas: metaethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics. A brief investigation into the philosophy of morals and ethics (and its inherent elusive definition) helps one better understand how morals apply to intelligence activities. While many perceive spying and espionage as immoral due to the nature of deception and surrounding levels of secrecy found in its operations, moral judgments have governed intelligence related functions since before the U.S. gained its independence from England. Due to the potential loss of human life and domestic and international implications and values, morals, as defined by the public, must continue as a guiding force in planning and conducting intelligence operations.

When discussing morals three categories of ethical philosophy arise. First, metaethics, the most theoretical area of moral philosophy, deals with questions surrounding the nature of morality. Next, normative ethics is concerned with providing a moral framework to determine what is right and wrong. Normative ethics theory is divided further by assigning the morality to the actor, the action or the consequence. The normative philosopher might ask, “Is the assassin, the assassination, or the outcome right or wrong?” while the metaethics truth-seeker would ask, “Is there right and wrong” or, “Moral, compared with what?” Lastly, applied ethics is the most practical philosophy and applies normative ethics theory to specific cases, identifying the morally just choice. Author, Loch Johnson, identified 38 individual covert intelligence operations and ranked them morally according to applied ethics theory. While understanding that nearly every person has a different outlook and opinion on individual and conceptual morals, it is important to understand that, in a democracy, the public must define what general moral philosophy is appropriate and should be employed by the government and its intelligence agencies.

The United States has depended on spy craft since the times of George Washington and his contemporaries. One of America’s first spies, Revolutionary War officer Nathan Hale, supposed, “Every kind of service necessary to the public good becomes honorable by being necessary.” Standing outside of CIA headquarters, a statue of Hale reminds and suggests to its employees that the ends justify the means. If this assumption is correct, do conventional morals have any bearing on the daily operations and covert actions undertaken by intelligence operatives? The answer depends on the responder’s perspective, whether they take a realist or idealist view and how they define morality and ethics.

Many writers have considered the morality of war and intelligence activities as functions of war and attempted to define it. Italian political philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) argued in The Prince, that the security of the state is so important that it may justify certain acts by the ruler that would be forbidden to other individuals not burdened by the responsibility of assuring that security. Some may consider this view immoral, while others argue that political leaders must follow a code of conduct different from that of the average citizen. By observing two distinct codes of ethics: first, conventional religious ethics concerned with salvation of the soul and, second, moral obligations of rulers, who must provide for national security, one can see how, as an individual, the ruler should be “good” in the conventional sense, yet be willing to practice “evil” if the duties of governance require. From the Machiavellian perspective, the rulers are morally bound (above conventional morality) to provide for the security of the state- this idea is the prevailing perspective amongst the intelligence community and government at large.

Despite the morality that many believe to be inherent in government service, others, including the father of U.S modern intelligence, Herbert Yardley, consider intelligence and its related covert activities less than respectable. After a trip to Europe, Yardley concluded that the British cipher bureaus “had a long and dark history, backed by a ruthless and intelligent espionage,” and that Great Britain was an international power due to such behavior. Yardley concluded that to gain “equal footing” with European powers, the United States needed to build and finance a team of skilled intelligence officers. His outlook parallels many others, both within and without of the Intelligence Community, that intelligence operations are an unavoidable evil that help to ensure the survival of the sovereign state and the protection of its citizens.

Without federal government, national anarchy would prevail. In fact, the world is in a state of international anarchy at present due to the lack of a strong international governing body. Englishman Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) was concerned with the lack of a global government, “There must be some coercive power to compel men equally to the performance of their covenants, by the terror of some punishment, greater than the benefit they expect by the breach of their covenant.” Today, the United Nations serves as an international governing body, yet, it often lacks the strength and unity to “compel [nations] … to the performance of their covenants.” Without a strong international power to enforce law, it is incumbent among individual nations to seek self-preservation and build a hegemonic power. Without a legitimate and powerful international government, there are no moral obligations to govern the relations of states and each state must fend for itself, employing all means available- including war and spy craft.

The U.S. government has, though elected and non-elected leaders, identified broad morals and codes of ethics to be followed in both domestic and international situations. Consider the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, these documents identify inherent “truths” and “rights” that must, according to the Founding Fathers, be respected and defended. The Fourth Amendment prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures by the government of U.S. persons, thus creating a law and standard for intelligence and law enforcement agencies to adhere. If following the Constitution and law is the “right thing to do,” and thus, moral in the classical sense, the Intelligence Community should aggressively seek to follow its guidance and standards as interpreted by the Judicial Branch.

Various organizations and judges have added to the Fourth Amendment and helped define what it means to the present day government and its various branches. The National Security Agency abides by the Fourth Amendment and, according to the Director of the NSA, its employees follow “USSID 18, which is kind of our library of instructions of how to conduct SIGINT and protect privacy.” These laws and guidance, created by nationally elected leaders, reflect the moral sentiment desired by the people of the United States. The Intelligence Community is morally bound to follow these directives and exercise the will of the people. Although government edicts are often incredible long and seem to cover every situation that may arise, inevitably, cases arise that require the moral judgment of an individual. This person must, to the best of his or her ability, choose the moral right and exercise what he or she believes to be what the will of the people to be.

Certainly, there are intelligence activities that are more controversial than others are. In attempting to define the moral “right,” intelligence strategists have identified an array of both overt and covert activities that the United States may apply against other nations and actors. These activities are categorized based on their level of “intrusiveness … from nonforcible to forcible intervention.” With potential intelligence activities listed and grouped into categories, it becomes clear that some actions carry more risk to human life than others do, and before employment, must meet certain criteria. Generally, the higher the risk for loss of human life, the more controversial and questionable the activity becomes. Additionally, exceptions are provided for in times of war or during a national or international crisis. Because the public allows exceptions to the morality of governance, “morals” may be reduced to “justifiable action” when applied to government.

Justifiable action was the code of ethics within the U.S. Intelligence Community from the 1950’s until 1975. During this era, the CIA planned coup d'états of freely elected governments and assassinations of foreign leaders while the NSA and FBI were regularly accused of spying on American citizens and politicians, as evidenced by the Watergate scandal. Perhaps, due to the fear of nuclear annihilation from the Soviet Union, the public may have condoned many covert activities that would now be shunned. Others argue that the morally questionable covert activities conducted during the 50’s through the 70’s, however repugnant, resulted in the survival and ultimate success of the United States and the downfall of the Soviet Union. These actions and others echo the tenets of Machiavelli, Hale and Yardley- immoral in the general sense, yet necessary for the survival of the government, thus morally justified.
Additionally, the metaethics philosophy must be considered when comparing the covert intelligence actions of the United States with the actions of other nations. On July 10, 1985, a bomb tore a 3 ½ by 10-foot hole in the engine room of the Rainbow warrior; a second bomb destroyed the ship’s propulsion system and killed one person. French officers of the DGSE placed the bombs in order to prevent the ship’s owners, Greenpeace, from interfering with French underground nuclear tests. Six and a half years earlier, on Christmas night in 1979, a KGB special operations team led an assault on the Afghan palace, which was guarded by 300 loyal guardsmen and 3,000 regular soldiers. By KGB design, the attack left no survivors. In comparison of these despicable, yet possibly justified operations, the metaethics philosopher asks, “How virtuous is the United States, relative to the operations and methods of other nations?”

When comparing the actions of other nations against those of the U.S., one finds that the United States is not innocent of wrongdoing in past covert and overt affairs. The bungled Bay of Pigs operation and subsequent death and capture of Cuban ex-patriots and the slaughter of hundreds, if not thousands, of Panamanians during the deposition of Manuel Noriega are but a sample of U.S. deeds that are morally questionable. When asked about the 23 U.S. soldiers who had died, and the 324 wounded during the capture of Panama, President George Bush responded, “Every human life is precious, and yet I have to answer, yes, it has been worth it.” The morality and virtue of these U.S. intelligence operations and more has been the subject of debate for years and debate of new operations will likely continue in the face of recently revealed information concerning the NSA domestic spy program and the recent U.S. involvement in the wars in the Middle East.

During times of war, extreme measures are often permitted by leaders and citizens as required for the preservation of the state. The Bush administration declared that the United States is in a state of war against terrorism- paving the way for use of extreme measures. By declaring a war that may never conceivably end, the U.S. may officially be in a “state of war” indefinitely. Official war or not, Hobbes breached the subject of perpetual war hundreds of years before, “In all times, kings, and persons of sovereign authority… are in continual jealousies… having their weapons pointing, and their eyes fixed on one another… and continual spies upon their neighbours; which is a posture of war.” Acknowledging the actual state of affairs justifies the use of security measures preserved for use only in war times and allows for unconventional collection and exploitation of intelligence and security measures- as evidenced by the Patriot Act and NSA domestic wiretapping program.

In addition to the ethics and morality surrounding individual intelligence operations, one must consider the moral obligation of the United States to protect the innocent, without regard for citizenship. Does the U.S. have a duty to depose tyrants and oppressive governments or an obligation to defend other democratic nations? As the world’s only superpower, many argue that the United States is the only country with the means to confront unjust dictators and defend the defenseless and its leaders are morally bound to do so, employing intelligence activities to achieve the desired outcome. Others dispute that the U.S. should not meddle in the affairs of other countries and it would be unethical to interfere in the politics and domestics policies of foreign nations. Regardless of the stance one takes on the issue described, morals and ethics must guide the decision to wield military and intelligence activities in effort to influence foreign nations.

Some intelligence operations are designed to secure the interests of the U.S. by supporting dissident factions in enemy nations. Intelligence activities concerning the Kurds during the first Gulf War, and the aid and weapons the U.S. supplied to them is evidence of the dual nature of many intelligence operations. On the one hand, the aid helped the starving and oppressed nomadic Kurds in Northern Iraq. On the other hand, the weapons were intended to build support for the U.S. and incite the violent overthrow of Saddam Hussein. In the end, the U.S. military did not provide sufficient support to the Kurds and the operation ended in the slaughter of nearly two hundred thousand Kurds by the vengeful Saddam seeking retribution for the uprising. Many consider the entire operation immoral by pointing out that the U.S. should have not interfered with the domestic policies of Iraq and second, leaving the Kurds to die after promising them support resulted in deaths of thousands. Others defend the actions, claiming that the decisions made in the operation were in the best interest of American security at the time and thus, the decisions were morally just. As evidenced by the equally convincing views taken by the moral opponents, it is clear that moral decisions are not easily made and an operation can be both moral and immoral.

Does supporting a third party in a morally unjust act make the supporting nation immoral as well? The United States is very familiar with surrogate wars and murderous operations. The building up and training of the Taliban militia in Afghanistan is a prime example of how the United States avoided a direct war with the Soviet Union, thus morally preserving American blood and resources, yet by supporting a humanely cruel society and tribal government, the U.S. could be considered responsible for Afghanistan’s immoral transgressions. Additionally, the United States morally helped a weaker nation fight against an oppressive communist regime. Conversely, providing weapons to Afghani tribesmen helped to build a nation where human rights violations and drug use is rampant, creating an immoral situation. Further, the subsequent environment became a training ground for many Muslim extremists and the safe haven for America’s most wanted terrorists, including Bin Laden. The subsequent war with the Taliban and Islamists, which the United States helped to train and arm, which ensued after the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, caused many to consider the irony of the situation. The multi-faceted outcome of this covert/overt action leaves many moral and ethical questions unanswered and open to perpetual deliberation.

In sum, philosophers have debated ethics and morals for millennia and will likely continue to debate for as long as they have the ability to express their differences of opinion. Because each person, state and nation is influenced by different ideals, and because each value life, property and freedom differently, morals and ethics in a democracy will be ever changing and adapting to the predominate viewpoint of the majority. By electing people perceived as moral leaders, who represent the nation’s values, the United States, is in a good position to make morally just choices in utilizing its intelligence agencies. Congressional hearings, public information disclosures, accountability, free elections and a transparent government are essential to the morality of the nation; these national attributes will help to set the standard for national and international interactions, thus, bringing morality and order to the world.

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