On 2 May 2011, United States special operations forces (SOF) conducted a raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan and killed the founder of Al Qaeda. With this special operation, the United States accomplished a decade-old national security objective: to locate and bring to justice the Al Qaeda leader responsible for the September 11 attacks. This raid is but one example of how SOF have become a ‘tool of choice’ for policymakers in today’s complex security environment.
So, what is it that has made SOF so attractive to policymakers? The answer lies, at least partially, in the core attributes that set SOF apart from conventional forces. Special operations forces are manned with specially screened and selected personnel, trained in specialized tactics and techniques, and equipped with specialized and technologically advanced kit. With these attributes, SOF offer national leaders the enticing promise of small-footprint clandestine military actions in pursuit of strategic objectives with a high probability of success and manageable risk. The allure of this national security calculus is clearly evident in the vast expansion of resources dedicated to SOF and in their extensive operational employment by nations across the globe over the last several decades.
As we look to the future, the very attributes that made SOF attractive in the past – special manning, special training, special equipment – can be expected to make them even more appealing in the future. Special operations forces’ utility across the spectrum of conflict and their particular effectiveness in the complex ‘grey area’ of strategic competition make it likely that policymakers worldwide will increasingly employ such forces. With such a view of the future, it is natural to raise key, follow-on questions. In addition to special manning, training, and equipping, are there special rules for special operations? In other words, are conventional military ethics sufficient to guide both the operators and the policymakers in the employment of SOF?
These are crucial questions. My own appreciation of the importance of military ethics evolved greatly over the course of my 35 years as a US Navy SEAL. From textbook study of its philosophical underpinnings as a midshipman at the Naval Academy, to its role in shaping my personal behaviour as a tactical operator, staff officer, and commander, ethics had a distinctly personal quality for most of my career. Later, while serving as the president of the Naval War College, I came to a much deeper understanding of the strategic significance of ethics, especially its role in the Profession of Arms. Far from purely an academic construct or personal guideline, military ethics serve as the all-important link between a nation’s values and the ‘rule set’ for a nation’s military operations. When properly aligned, military ethics maintain the strategic moral high ground while fostering the trust that enables effective operations in a complex environment; when misaligned, a nation and its military are doomed to failure. With the prospect of ever-increasing employment of SOF in the future, a thorough examination of the ethics for special operations is critical today.
I can think of no one better to guide a reader through such an examination than this book’s authors. Together, they bring years of diverse academic and operational bona fides to bear on this important topic. Dr Deane-Peter Baker has researched, lectured, and published on military ethics in Australia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States; he also served briefly in both the British and South African Army. Dr Roger Herbert retired from the US Navy after serving 26 years as a SEAL officer; he recently held the General Robert T. Herres Distinguished Military Professor of Ethics chair at the US Naval Academy where he directed the Academy’s core ethics course, Ethics and Moral Reasoning for the Naval Leader. Finally, Dr David Whetham is the Professor of Ethics and the Military Profession at King’s College London; he regularly lectures on the ethics at military education institutions across the globe and, as the Director of the King’s Centre for Military Ethics, is focused daily on military ethics education at both the individual and institutional level. This book, the result of the authors’ collective effort, is a unique synthesis of the education, experience, and reasoning of current thought leaders in military ethics. Through it, they have made me more clear-eyed about the promise, challenge, and ethics of special operations in national security; I’m confident they will do the same for you.
