Assessing the Morality of Using the Space Environment as a Platform for Weapons.

摘要

Remarks about President Ronald Reagan's hope of developing a system of national defense which does not rest on the reliance on nuclear weapons introduce the discussion on how US citizens expect their military to conduct war. A description of the Just War Theory and the Law of Armed Conflict completes the background for the authors' views of how space weapons could significantly change US employment of the Principles of War. The dramatic enhancements to the Principles of War available through space weapons apply to the full spectrum of conflict and promote the very real possibility of truly limiting war. The analysis of the Just War Theory, the Law of Armed Conflict, and the space-enhanced Principles of War resulted in the conclusion that a more moral means of warfighting does exist than reliance on weapons of mass destruction and indiscriminate killing. The space environment offers that hopeful solution. (EDC)