Suppose that the U.S. military deploys the X-47B, an unmannedaerial drone capable of sensing, tracking, identifying, targeting,and destroying an enemy target with very limited humanoversight—assume it is a human-on­-the-loop weapon. As aweapon in the ongoing conflict with the Islamic State (ISIS)terrorist organization, X-47B is tasked with missions to target andkill senior ISIS operatives. Now imagine a particular mission, inwhich an X-47B is given a programmed mission to carry out atargeted strike on two ISIS operatives, call them ‘V’ and ‘Z’, whomsurveillance reports indicate are currently located in northernIraq near the Turkish border. According to reliable intelligence, Vand Z are instrumental in planning and leading operations toransack, pillage, and then demolish world historical sites in Iraq(e.g. Khorsabad, Nergal Gate at Nineveh, and Monastery of St.Elijah), looting priceless antiquities and smuggling them to besold on black markets in Europe and Asia, in order to generatecapital to fund ISIS’s continued armed insurgency [for more on thisparticular practice, see Harkin, “Murdering History,”Smithsonian, March 2016]. V and Z are thereby deemedlegitimate and high-value military targets. They are also elusive,with fairly sophisticated clandestine methods for relocating andevading detection; finding their present location requiredsubstantial surveillance drone resources over the course of severalmonths.

Further suppose, that you are also in northern Iraq in a villagenear the Turkish border, working for a humanitarian aidorganization providing healthcare services to Kurdish people whosecommunities have been ravaged and infrastructure degraded by ISIS.Part of your duties involve going out into local villages todistribute medical supplies and provide support services atcommunity centers. Your team is primarily composed of American,British, and German nurses and doctors. Today, you are at one suchcommunity center providing care and supplies to hundreds ofcivilians. In a building 200 meters from the center in which youare working, V and Z are plotting another raid on a nearbyhistorical site. The X-47B has accurately tracked and identifiedthe location of V and Z, it also recognizes that the nearbycommunity center contains many innocent non-combatants.Nevertheless, X-47B calculates that launching a precise and limitedstrike on V and Z’s suspected location will only produce a blastradius of no more than 75 meters, and determines that theidentified non-combatants are not likely to be harmed. Aftercomputing its decision-procedure algorithm, X-47B fixes its targetand initiates a missile strike to complete its mission, and nohuman overrides its lethal decision. V and Z are immediatelykilled, but the building was also housing several tons ofexplosives used in their demolition of historical sites. X-47B’scalculations did not account for the unknown explosives, whichextend the blast radius of the strike to 225 meters. A wing of thecommunity center collapses from the force of the blast, killing 15civilians and one American nurse on your team, many others areseverely injured and a British doctor is trapped under some of therubble. After overcoming the initial disorientation from the blast,you and your remaining team rush to minimize casualties and treatthe civilian victims.

[5 pts.] Was X-47B justified in initiating the missile strike toeliminate V and Z? Why or why not? Use principles ofdistinction, proportionality, or militarynecessity invoked in international humanitarian law governingarmed conflict to defend your position.

[5 pts.] Who should be held morally responsible for theunintended harms and casualties? As a witness to the atrocity andpossible victim, in this hypothetical case, how do you propose thatthe U.S. military should respond to the consequences of the X-47B’sstrike? Defend your position.