Lesser of two evils

An interesting idea presented in this sections readings is the idea of Standards of care in Military Operations. In David Rodin’s essay entitled Terrorism without Intention he makes the statement that the more dangerous that the activity is when a person is engaged in it, the higher the standard of care that is required. In saying this we can say that a higher standard of care is required from an airplane pilot than the standard of care required from a high school teacher. Rodin goes on to say that the standards of care are higher in activities that have a higher causal immediacy to harm. Rodin makes the example that “observations to activity of aerial bombardment, we will observe that bombardment is a highly dangerous activity, that there is a high causal immediacy between the dropping of bombs and resulting fatalities”(Rodin, Terrorism without intention, pg 562). The most interesting point that Rodin makes is that in a situation in which you are faced with two high risk situations; choosing one that may be the lowest of risk of the two would make it justifiable. Rodin states that “pehaps military operations which carry a high risk of noncombatant casualties are not reckless or negligent because the risk are justifiable”( Rodin, Terrorism without intention, pg 562). Rodin compares this to how a surgeon may choose a surgery that is of high risk but still of lower risk than an alternative surgery. Although Rodin makes an interesting point, I cannot agree with him because based on his stance he is saying that choosing the lesser of two bad situations is justifiable. If we were to put this way of thinking on a larger scale, of a situation such as war; we cannot say that the lesser of two options is the justifiable choice. If the military knew that terrorist were hiding in a village that also had civilians in it we cannot justify using a missile over the use of napalm; just because it puts the civilians at lesser risk. Regardless of what the military does in that situation knowingly killing the civilians cannot be justified.