Point:
Wars must be won if our country … is to be protected
from unthinkable outcomes, as the events on September 11th most recently
illustrated…. This best protection unequivocally requires armed
forces having military physicians committed to doing what is required to
secure victory…. As opposed to needing neutral physicians, we need
military physicians who can and do identify as closely as possible with
the military so that they, too, can carry out the vital part they play in
meeting the needs of the mission.
Counterpoint:
We believe the role of the
“physician–soldier” to be an inherent moral
impossibility because the military physician, in an environment of
military control, is faced with the difficult problems of mixed agency
that include obligations to the “fighting strength” and
… “national security.”This paper is based on the Dual Loyalty Project
(1998–2000), which was funded by the Greenwall Foundation to develop
guidelines that protect the human rights of patients in situations where
health professionals face dual loyalty conflicts. The intellectual
contributions of the International Dual Loyalty Working Group, as well as
the assistance of Ms. Kathy Mallinson and Dr. Joanne Stevens in preparing
this manuscript are gratefully acknowledged.