Ethics for National Security: Decisionmakers: 'It's Not Always Easy to do Welland Right'

摘要

Throughout U.S. history, unethical practices by government officials have beenwith us. Unethical behavior by government officials undermines the public trust and confidence in our democratic form of government. In a recent survey of public administrators about their perceptions of ethics in government, over 60 percent of those who responded agreed that society 'suffers from a moral numbness following a decade of government scandals.' Corrupt and unethical practices have occurred in almost every level of our government, from the highest government officials to some of the lowest. Many of the unethical practices have been carried out by national security officials. Some examples which come immediately to mind include: a President resigning because of unethical behavior; military enlisted men being found guilty of selling some of our most precious secrets to foreign powers, not for ideological reasons but for the money; Department of Defense civilian employees selling secrets to defense contractors; an Assistant Secretary of State allegedly not reporting as required known Israeli violations of defense trade controls to the Congress; and, a military officer serving in the Office of the National Security Advisor dealing in weapons.