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Brian Carey
PHIL 119
Midterm 1
Identify Ethical Issues
The first ethical issue is involved with espionage in friendly countries. Why must the
U.S. play the role of world police in an allied, industrialized nation? The next is the issue of
civilian lives versus the lives of soldiers. Stemming from this issue is the global War on Terror,
and more importantly, the value of foreign lives versus the value of American lives.
Gather Facts, Identify Gaps
The only absolute fact is that there will be an attempted bombing at 3 stations of the UBahn tomorrow morning. There is a belief by the operative in the bombs being unsophisticated,
but if the belief is wrong, the consequences would be dire. The U-Bahn Berlin contains about
146 kilometers of track and 143 stations. (Underground (U-Bahn), n.d.) Do we know which of
the 143 stations will be attacked? The CIA is one of the most powerful institutions in the world,
and arguably the best intelligence agency; will pulling just one undercover operative really hurt
the war on terror?
Identify Relevant Values, Laws, Codes
The end of World War II saw Germany split in two; the capitalist West Germany, and the
communist East Germany. The ensuing Cold War led the U.S. to station many troops in West
Germany, as well as oversee their transition back to a democracy. Still today, the U.S. has
43,000 soldiers stationed in Germany, 57 military drones, and the European headquarters of the
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CIA is located in Frankfurt. In 2012, $3 billion were spent in German, this is second only to
Afghanistan. (Goetz, 2013) These statistics seem to show an indifference of U.S. presence by
the German government, but how do the citizens feel about the amount of U.S. military in their
home country?
Identify Stakeholders
U-Bahn commuters are a stakeholder in this affair, specifically the commuters in Berlin
assumingly on their way to work because the attack is planned for the morning. There may even
be some American tourists in Berlin taking the U-Bahn, but that is uncertain. Any employees of
the U-Bahn will also be effected by attacks, or thwarted attacks. The friends and family of the UBahn workers and commuters are stakeholders as well.
German citizens are stakeholders because the attack is in their own country, and will deal
with any consequences regarding future security on the U-Bahn, or whatever results from the
ordeal. The German government will have to decide how to deal with the attacks, and how to
prevent future attacks if in fact they are made aware. This may mean more funding for the
Federal Intelligence Service (BND), who perhaps was unaware of the attacks. This will be
discussed further in the paper.
The CIA is the source of intelligence for the attack, as well as a source of future
intelligence; the world’s view on the CIA is generally a result of the morality of their actions.
Agent Bentham is a huge stakeholder, infiltrating Al Qaeda is already a huge risk, thwarting the
attack puts his life in an even greater risk. The friends and family of Agent Bentham surely do
not want anything to happen to him.
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The U.S. government holds all decision making powers for this dilemma. Many countries
see our government, particularly the way we use military force, as a bully. Our actions will
affect the way Germany, Europe, and the world views our policies. The military in particular is a
stakeholder because these are the people fighting the war on terror, and the people who
experience the most attacks from Al Qaeda and other extremists.
Al Qaeda is a stakeholder. The extremist group claims responsibility for attacks all over
the world, and there are consequences for all of their actions and any actions towards them.
Members of Al Qaeda may also have families and friends; often times, members are drawn to the
group because of a loss of family and friends, would violent actions toward the group lead to
more recruitment? Will a family lose a father and husband? Could that be a good thing?
Muslims all over the world have expressed that they are against any acts of Muslim extremists
and most do not even consider these terrorists followers of the same faith. Another attack may
lead to more prejudice and Islamophobia in Germany, the US and in other western countries with
very small numbers of people of the Muslim faith.
Consult Stakeholders, Engage Others
Due to the nature of this dire event, many stakeholders will not have a chance to be
consulted before any decision is made. The important players here are Agent Bentham, the CIA,
BND, and leaders of the German government.
Agent Bentham for all intents and purposes is a U.S. soldier, and by definition his job
involves protecting civilians. However, he is a U.S. soldier, not a German soldier. Bentham
should be consulted to get as much information as we can, as well as what he thinks is the best
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decision. This implies asking if he wants to put his life at risk for the potential passengers of the
U-Bahn. His family may need to know what our options are as well.
The CIA and BND need to be communicating. What if the BND already knows about
the attack? Would any actions taken by the U.S. government interfere with the BND or German
Government? Either way, the BND as well as the German Prime Minister should be consulted on
the issue, to see what their usual protocol is and what actions they plan to take.
Creatively Formulate Options
No action is definitely an option, Agent Bentham stays within the Al Qaeda cell, and all
responsibility shifts to the German government and the BND. There are many consequences to
this one, including if the fact that we knew about the attacks becomes known, but this will be
discussed in a later section. The opposite of course is to give the intelligence to the German
government and BND, thus giving them the responsibility. The only decision left to make is
what to do with Bentham, leave him at risk in the cell, or pull him and let him go home to his
family a hero.
It’s possible to not pass the intelligence on to the BND, and act alone. This could include
arresting or killing the involved members of the Al Qaeda cell. Arresting the cell will allow us
to safely extract Bentham by pretending he is arrested too, as well as supply us with further
intelligence through means of interrogating the rest of the cell. If the rest of the cell is killed then
the BND and German government must be notified after the operation takes place.
The U.S. can still be involved with the operation if the CIA and BND cooperate to thwart
the attack, through means of arresting or killing the terrorists. Arresting of course leading to
intelligence for both of the countries, and the safe removal of Bentham from undercover work. It
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is possible to delay the attacks by having the German government announce that the U-Bahn will
be closed for construction tomorrow. This will obviously be suspicious, but it will prevent the
bombing of the U-Bahn. Will Al Qaeda fall for it or retaliate with a different bombing? This
could put agent Bentham at great risk if the announcement from the government is not
believable.
The whole cell does not have to be taken out or arrested. The German government could
be notified, and step up security with bomb sniffing dogs at all the stations. Announcing the
bomb threat would also put Bentham at risk.
Consider Consequences
Assuming the BND knows nothing of the attacks, the consequences of non-action are the
injury and death of a few passengers on the U-Bahn. The consequentialist John Stuart Mill says
“He who saves a fellow creature from drowning does what is morally right, whether his motive
be duty or the hope of being paid for his trouble; he who betrays the friend that trusts him is
guilty of a crime, even if his object be to serve another friend to whom he is under greater
obligations (Mill, p.42, col. 2.5).” The drowning creature is the potential U-Bahn passengers, and
even though obligations lie in protecting U.S. citizens from a greater attack it is morally right to
stop the U-Bahn attack.
Identify Relevant Duties
The CIA is an American intelligence agency, and Agent Bentham works for this agency.
Immanuel Kant asks “… would I be content that my maxim of extricating myself from difficulty
by false promise should hold as a universal law for myself as well as for others (Kant, p.36, col.
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1.4)?” Thus, the U.S. must ask itself how it would feel if the BND or another intelligence
agency such as Russia’s SVR were operating in our country to infiltrate terrorist organizations.
What if they knew of the attack? How would we want them to act? Kant also talks about never
using people as a means to an end (Kant, p.38, col. 1.4). This complicates the whole use of
military and soldiers, but if we leave Agent Bentham at risk we are using him as a means of
protecting a possible attack on the U.S.
Identify Relevant Virtues
Accountability is a virtue needed for the U.S. and the CIA in particular. If anything goes
wrong in the actions taken, responsibility must be claimed because this is a necessary component
to democracy. Courage will be required for any person involved with thwarting the terrorist
attack. Cooperation may be a necessary virtue if the German government and BND is involved.
If the plan to close the U-Bahn is enacted, patience is a virtue. Aristotle says of virtue “It
is the nature of moral qualities that they can be destroyed by deficiency on the one hand and
excess on the other. (Aristotle, p.27, col. 2.2)” Acting too quickly or waiting too long both have
their disadvantages. Empathy towards all of the stakeholders is a virtue to consider, but being
too empathetic may lead to indecisiveness.
Assess Impact on Relations
This impending attack have a tremendous impact on our international relations with not
only Germany, but the rest of the western world. Our actions will set future precedent for how
countries think we will act in the future. Carol Gilligan says, “Within this construction, the
moral dilemma changes from how to exercise one’s rights without interfering with the rights of
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others to how ‘to lead a moral life which includes obligations to myself and my family and
people in general’ (Gilligan, p.55-6, col. 2.10-1.1).” Gilligan would clearly support the idea of
stopping the terrorist attack because of our relation to the Germans and people in general.
Reflect, Choose, Revisit
When looking at the important thinkers of relations, virtues, duties, and consequences,
the common conclusion is to stop the terrorist attack. These philosophers would also want the
CIA to be honest and tell and/or cooperate with the German government. The best way to
eliminate the risk of the U-Bahn bombing would be to shut down the U-Bahn for a day under the
veil of construction, maintenance, or repairs. A temporary lie to the German people is okay, as
long as everyone is kept safe. The question then becomes, what to do with Agent Bentham and
the rest of the terrorist cell. Putting Agent Bentham at risk, will be using him as a means to an
end, so he should be safely withdrawn from his undercover position. As for the terrorist cell,
arrests are the best option. Both killing and arrests are means to an end, but arrests set a
universal law of a further trial and hopefully resulting justice. Further training of the BND is
necessary as a short-term fix, the long term fix has to do with discovering why people become
terrorists, and preventing the creation of terrorists in the future. Custody of these terrorists may
lead to insight.
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Bibliography
Aristotle. (n.d.). Nichomachean Ethics.
Goetz, J. (2013, November 15). Germany: Ally and Accomplice in America’s “War on Terror”.
Retrieved from Center for Research on Globalization.
Kant, I. (n.d.). Respect for Persons. In J. C. Van Camp, Applying Ethics: A Text with Readings
(pp. 34-9).
Mill, J. S. (n.d.). Utilitarianism. In J. C. Van Camp, Applying Ethics: A Text with Readings (pp.
40-5).
Underground (U-Bahn). (n.d.). Retrieved from Berlin.de: https://www.berlin.de/en/publictransportation/1742343-2913840-underground-subway.en.html