Violence of Action: Assessing the Potential for Common Ground between Just War Theory and the Tactics of Covert Military Special Operations.

In recent years, the use of covert military special operations has increased significantly. Highly trained professional soldiers have been able to accomplish dicey missions to secure battlefield and security objectives. Because of the secretive nature of military special operations, policymakers and the public at large have typically assessed the “ends” of the mission rather then the “means” by which it was accomplished. While there are various reasons for this, the most unsettling reason to avoid discussion of “means” is the fear that, in closely examining the actions of special operations, they could be found unsavory or morally detestable. This paper examines the ways U.S. special operations engage in battle through the lens of Just War Theory in hopes of bridging two fields that tend to repel each other. Through historical and qualitative analysis, this paper concludes that the actions of U.S. military special operations can be theoretically consistent with the tenets of jus ad bellum, jus in bello and jus post bellum. Conversely, tangible uses of clandestine force during wartime are less likely to be considered “just” as the Just War principles of discrimination, proportionality and minimal force are highly subjective. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]