ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that weapons are very critical in the capacity to enforce chivalrous and ethical principles—the ability to prevent cruelties or indiscriminate deaths, especially amongst protected populations. It is argued here that, to the extent that the preservation of ethical and chivalrous principles are concerned, the use of unconventional weapons like drones and IEDs leaves all adversaries in the war on terror holding the short end of the stick. In other words, ethical and chivalrous considerations get a short-shrift from the parties in the war on terror because they deploy controversial weapons that indiscriminately and “cowardly” kill even the otherwise protected. Thus, this chapter emphasizes the argument by Douglas Lackey that the use of armed drones is analogous in contemporary warfare to the situation where men in tanks and armoured vehicles and bombers kill men not in tanks or amoured vehicles or bombers; that is, without risk to themselves—a situation that does not smack of any iota of courage or gallantry.
