Rational Ignorance: The Strategic Economics of Military Censorship

Abstract

News coverage of the Persian Gulf War was the subject of controversial restrictions by the military [1]. Opposition to these restrictions from the journalistic community springs in the first instance from the perception that these restrictions make it more difficult for reporters to do their jobs. Part of that opposition may spring from a sense of professional duty; much of it may be part of the character of the journalist. Correspondents, particularly war correspondents, probably would not have chosen their careers unless they received personal as well as professional satisfaction from bearing witness to the action. Nevertheless, opposition to these restrictions does not refer only to personal and professional satisfaction. Moral force is invoked by appealing to the rights of citizens to know what their government and military are doing. In the language of ethics, citizens cannot fulfill their duties as moral actors without being able to control how others act on their behalf-especially in wartime, when those actions themselves raise profound moral concerns. In the more mundane terms of economic efficiency, an argument would be that a principal (the citizen) is better off if to the degree it can effectively monitor the actions of its agents (the government and military). The leading and obvious argument presented against wartime disclosure of military activities is that such disclosure may inform the enemy as well as the citizens [4]. An informed antagonist may be better able to place its offensive and defensive capabilities to increase the likelihood that the protagonist will fail. A less appealing argument is that publicizing military activities may weaken political support in the protagonist's home country. A democracy's need for disclosure of government activity itself may make it more difficult for democracies to prosecute wars. This difficulty is amplified when altruistic or pacifist citizens have the political wherewithal to limit or halt the action or to punish the military for excessive effort. The Viet Nam experience suggests that social ostracizing of returning soldiers was potential punishment for military effort at least some of the citizens regarded as inordinate. In principle, the military should not escalate a conflict or employ tactics that a democracy's citizens find reprehensible, even if that means losing the war. An obvious example would be refraining from using nuclear weapons in Viet Nam; perhaps Agent Orange should have been on the forbidden list as well. But public awareness of a military's tactics, when many may be averse to their use, introduces a potential strategic cost. If citizens forbid the military from using a particularly destructive tactic, then the military cannot credibly threaten to use that tactic against