Soldiers who are educated, trained and indoctrinated to blindly follow orders; a permanent state of emergency allowing powers to commit acts that might otherwise be considered atrocities; soldiers who excuse their actions saying they were ‘just following orders. Do these describe a far-future fantasy world, or the present day? For decades, Games Workshop’s Warhammer 40,000 (40k) universe has captured the imaginations of gamers, readers and fantasy fans. One of the most well-established science-fiction universes today, it depicts a 41st millennium engulfed in conflict, where humankind (the Imperium) has spread across the universe only to be beset on all sides by deadly alien foes, and from within by the insidious lure of Chaos. It is pure fantasy, and yet it is not. For at the heart of 40k lie issues being played out today; modern-day questions of military ethics and the conduct of war arise in literature from long before the War on Terror. Warhammer 40k extrapolates on realworld concepts – the super-soldier, unending war – and takes them to their logical (sometimes illogical) conclusion. There are messages and story arcs that can be directly transposed to the reallife present day. The byzantine statecraft and martial ethics of the Imperium serve as a fictionalised ‘black mirror’ to the ‘permanent state of emergency’ that philosopher Giorgio Agamben claims to be the essential practice of the modern-day state. For alien threats, read terrorists; for Chaos, read extremist domestic threats; for super solider Space Marines, read individual soldiers drilled to follow instructions – both potentially committing war crimes in which they have little say. Space Marines stand at the centre of much of the 40k universe, and offer parallels with soldiers and their actions today. Genetically-enhanced super-soldiers, they are humanity’s ultimate warriors – bigger, stronger and faster than normal human soldiers, and equipped with the best weapons and armour with which to wage war against the Emperor’s foes. JUST FOLLOWINGORDERS The Space Marines’ approach to duty and warfare offers several important questions about howmodern-day soldiers think and behave on the field of battle. On the one hand, soldiers are educated, trained and indoctrinated by the nation state of which they are part and sent into battle to fight wars under the orders of their superior officers. Yet the state is also subject to international law, so do the soldiers owe their loyalty to their superiors or to the state? Can they – should they – be expected to think for themselves? How can they think for themselves when their training compels them not to, to follow orders without questions? As part of the 40k canon, during the Horus Heresy, half the Space Marine legions ‘fell’ to Chaos and betrayed the Emperor, but it is unclear howmany were actually traitors, or just individuals caught up in events, following their superiors. Space Marines are expected to follow orders without question. Execution awaits those who do not. Yet Space Marine Argel Tal reflects on the weakness of the excuse “I was just following orders”, and argues he himself is weak for using it. Thispoints toaparadox in real-world militaryethicsand thewaywehold individual soldiers toaccount for crimes theymayhavehad littlesay incommitting. A good example is the infamous My Lai massacre during the VietnamWar, where US troops killed hundreds of civilians. Only one soldier, Lt. William Calley, was ever tried, and in a sense, Lt Calley was put on trial – and found guilty of war crimes – not as an individual but on behalf of all military personnel who took part in the engagement, and who were following the orders – or at least the spirit of the orders – from officials stressing the ‘need for aggression and a large body count’. While Lt Calley and his colleagues may have pulled the trigger, they were part of a much wider systemic failure rooted in the overall military machine, exposing the tensions between national and international law, and the ethical dilemma surrounding soldierly loyalty. Former US Secretary of Defence Robert SMcNamara has spoken of his role in the Office of Statistical Control during the SecondWorldWar, where his job was to calculate ways to improve the efficiency of US bombing raids in East Asia. This ultimately led to the firebombing of Tokyo and themurder of hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians. He realises that had the Allies 32 | For alien threats, read terrorists; for Chaos, read extremist domestic threats; for super solider Space Marines, read individual soldiers drilled to follow instructions – both potentially committing war crimes in which they have little say. ‘‘ ’’
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