A Soldier's Killing Is Justified

Murder is morally wrong; however, can it ever be justified? If you were to think of a soldier in combat, and they killed someone would that be justifiable? The answer to that question is yes. Soldier’s killing during a war is justified because morality is frozen during wartime, they are doing it for the common good of the public, and they are acting in self-defense. Soldiers murdering other people are justified because morality is frozen during wartime. That statement means that war makes things that we would normally condemn not condemnable. During wartime, some civilians and soldiers alike don’t consider killing as murder. During wartime killing your enemy is “desirable” and the more people you kill “the better” (Bartetko 2017). Also during wartime, the value placed on human lives aren’t as high as during nonwar times. You may expect several people you know to die, and you may start to become desensitized to people dying around you. In one case study, a young soldier was tried for the murder of two Afghans. He was in Afghanistan and had to make the decision to kill. In court at his …show more content…
One definition of justified homicide is that in certain circumstances killing is condoned when it prevents “greater harm to innocents” (Jokic 2003). Soldiers may kill one person during a battle in the hopes of saving many innocent people in their home county. Soldiers only know what they are told to them by their superiors much like how we civilians only really know what the news or other ‘unreliable’ sources tell us. Soldiers are told who the enemy is and who is trying to prevent the soldiers and their loved ones back home from being safe or having freedom. Soldiers then do anything in their power to stop these enemies from hurting us- the ‘innocents’. These statements prove that soldiers are warranted in killing other people because they are doing it for the common good of their