Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!decwrl!limbo!taylor
From: bradley@cs.utexas.edu (Bradley L. Richards)
Newsgroups: comp.society
Subject: Re: Computers as weapons
Message-ID: <1663@limbo.Intuitive.Com>
Date: 28 Jan 91 22:57:05 GMT
Sender: taylor@limbo.Intuitive.Com
Organization: Dept of Computer Sciences, UTexas, Austin
Lines: 21
Approved: taylor@Limbo.Intuitive.Com

As both a military officer and a computer type, let me give you one
possible answer.  The ethical question you raise is one I've thought
about often.

One of my favorite quotes, which you've no doubt heard, is "violence is
the last refuge of the incompetent."  I believe that, with one caveat:
it takes only one incompetent to force both parties into conflict.  The
(brief) war between Iraq and Kuwait last summer is a prime example:
regardless of Kuwait's "competence," Iraq involved them in violence.

So, to answer your question:  while I don't generally condone violence,
be it warfare or in any other form, I don't believe the current nations
and cultures in the world are mature enough to avoid it.  And there are
occasions when it is ethically justifiable to use force to defend
yourself or others against the aggressive incompetents out there.

Now for my disclaimer:  I've deliberately not discussed the rights and
wrongs of any particular U.S.  involvement, nor do I care to.  That,
after all, is not the point of Tim's question.

Bradley