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Morality knows no home on the battlefield. The theater of war lends itself only to a survivalist mentality which necessitates that instinct often supercede rationality. Nature’s ultimatum is the grim reality of warfare; that one must kill or be killed. General Taylor’s assessment of the role of morality in war is indicative of this reality. He states that it is too dangerous for an officer or soldier to exercise any judgement concerning moral matters which might lead to the violation of orders. This might lead one to conclude that the realities of war show nothing of the morality of war. On the contrary, they tell whole heartedly of the function morality plays on the battlefield. Quite simply, that it has no function. It shows nothing of the morality of war because such a thing does not exist. Like searching for water in the desert, it is equally as futile to seek virtue amidst carnage and brutality. Forget for a moment about man’s reasoning and motivation for war, and it becomes quite obvious that moral values have nothing to do with warfare itself (i.e. the actual fighting and killing). In combat situations these things are primitive and instinctual reactions to threats to our immediate well-being, imbedded in