A soldier who refuses an order to fight is also capable of refusing one to stand down, or of starting an unauthorized action or committing an atrocity. This is what the system of military discipline tries to overcome, even in the confusion, terror and fatigue of combat. Blame and responsibility move up the chain of command, but if individual soldiers at any level refuse a lawful order, only chaos can result. If the war is an unjust one, then the CIC has the ultimate responsibility. We simply cannot have soldiers of any rank who decide on their own what they want to do.

It is the very nature of war that the innocent suffer, even the combatant in uniform may not be there of his own choosing, and his family will also suffer if he falls. If a soldier refuses to fight for moral reasons, then let him refuse before he takes the oath. And if he does reject an order due to absolute moral repugnance, then he must also accept the disciplinary consequences of that refusal. I am sure that men may ultimately be faced with the terrible decision of doing something under orders they find detestable, but being under fire is not the time to carry out subtle moral judgements. And I think no man can be blamed for his actions at such a time.

Once a nation decides to go to war, the individual soldier, like the entire armed forces itself, is an instrument of national policy. He absolves his responsibility for his actions by offering his life if it is required by the circumstances, or even by blind chance. Mr McCain's wartime acts were part of his duty, as authorized by his government and all his superiors up the line, not to mention the innumerable support personell that armed and maintained his aircraft and ultimately supported the campaign. We need men like him, we count on them for our very survival. And if they do the wrong thing, it is not their fault.

Of course, it is always possible to conceive of a situation which is clearly and obviously unnacceptable from a moral point of view, like murdering civilians just for the fun of it, or sadistically torturing captives. Not all the innocent casualties of war are collateral or accidental damage. In my opinion, McCain was morally justified in what he did, as were the gunners who brought down his aircraft. What happened to him in prison was a stain on the honor of his captors, but it was his personal triumph and to his everlasting credit. I may not think McCain's wartime service qualifies him for political office, and his war may have been a colossal blunder on many levels, but he will always have my respect and gratitude. And the fact that I never had to face the horrors and choices that he did is partly due to the fact that he was ready to accept that responsibility himself, for me. McCain suffered for me, and I mean that in the Christian sense of the term, my debt to him and his comrades in all our wars, in fact, to all soldiers everywhere in all wars, is incalculable. They are the greatest victims of all, and those that died, rightly or wrongly, died so we might live.