Publishers Weekly
05/09/2022
Philosopher and U.S. Air Force officer Chapa debuts with a nuanced if somewhat self-serving consideration of the ethical questions raised by the use of armed, remotely piloted aircraft. He pushes back against the notion that remote warfare is not “real warfare,” pointing out that previous technological innovations, including the advent of submarines and intercontinental ballistic missiles, have similarly “challenged standing conceptions and demanded that military operators, strategists, and policy makers modify old ways of thinking.” He also claims that the concept of warfare as a “duel” between enemies who risk their lives on a field of battle is misleading; disputes the idea that drone pilots and crew members adopt a “PlayStation mentality” when operating their aircraft; and claims that while instances of PTSD among drone pilots “are not nearly as common as the Hollywood accounts would have us all believe,” the prevalence of “moral injury,” which is caused by “witness or participat in an event that transgresses deeply held beliefs about humanity,” needs further study. Chapa’s firsthand experience gives his philosophical conclusions weight, but he shies away from some of the bigger questions he raises about remote warfare, including whether it will encourage leaders to engage in “more wars more often.” The result is a well-informed study whose takeaways feel preordained. (July)
From the Publisher
Chapa’s firsthand experience gives his philosophical conclusions weight… a well-informed study.”—Publishers Weekly
“[E]ven those who have already made up their minds about the morality of war will find a challenging examination of questions to which we are still developing answers…A hard-nosed look at the morality of drone warfare from a writer who has seen it close-up.”—Kirkus
“Chapa integrates a mastery of moral philosophy and psychology with his warfighting expertise to fill an important lacuna in the literature addressing the morality of drone strikes.”—Journal of Military Ethics
Kirkus Reviews
2022-05-05
An exploration of the morality of armed drones by an Air Force officer who has piloted Predator strikes and instructed other service members in their use.
Chapa, the Air Force’s chief artificial intelligence ethics officer, who holds a doctorate in philosophy from Oxford, is concerned with the ethics of a war fighter who takes enemy lives without being exposed to danger. It is a common conception that “war is defined by the courage of, risk to, and potential sacrifice by combatants.” By this criterion, how can someone who strikes down an opponent from thousands of miles away be a legitimate warrior rather than an assassin? “Though war ought to remain a dreadful last resort,” writes the author, “remote weapons threaten to make warfare commonplace.” Chapa focuses on the “humanity” of drone crews, who are faced with life-and-death decisions on an almost daily basis. He divides the ethical considerations into the strategic—on the level of national policy—and the tactical, involving individual crew members. He traces a significant change in the former to the aftermath of 9/11, when the focus of policy changed from state-level actors to individual terrorists and their leaders. Such counterterrorism missions were not suited to heavy bombers or artillery barrages. The rise of the Predator drone (and subsequent drone models) was the direct result of a war that didn’t take place on a traditional battlefield. Chapa presents a number of stories of drone pilots who disobey orders, noting, for example, a child in the field of fire or unusual behavior on the parts of people in nearby areas. Though general readers may find Chapa’s account dry and occasionally abstract, even those who have already made up their minds about the morality of war will find a challenging examination of questions to which we are still developing answers.
A hard-nosed look at the morality of drone warfare from a writer who has seen it close-up.
