Civilian Liability

Adil Ahmad Haque argues that civilians who contribute to unjust lethal threats in war, but who do not directly participate in the war, are not liable to defensive killing. His argument rests on two central claims: first, that the extent of a person’s liability to defensive harm in virtue of contributing to an unjust threat is limited to the cost that she is initially required to bear in order to avoid contributing, and second, that civilians need not bear lethal costs in order to avoid indirectly contributing to unjust lethal threats. I argue that Haque’s defense of each claim fails.