Ethical Dilemmas In The True Story And Movie Lone Survivor

Ethics Theory for the Military Professional by Chaplin (COL) Samuel D. Maloney illustrates the complex ethical decision making process. Army Leaders are responsible for professionally, and ethically develop subordinates. Developing unethical subordinates in a zero defect Army is a leadership challenge. Goal-Oriented Aspirations, Rule-Oriented Obligations, and Situation-Oriented Decisions provide leaders an understanding of the ethical decision making process. The first step to Professionally developing subordinates is identifying, and providing input on all subordinate goals. Leaders are obligated to enforce rules and regulations. Understanding subordinate character provides leaders with the information to evaluate a soldier’s integrity. However,

In the beginning of Lone Survivor, four men undertake a mission to take down the leader of the Taliban. They finally reach the mountain above where the village is located, and immediately spots the Taliban leader. Mike Murphy, their lutenaint, says to move up higher into the trees. While resting, they awake to the sound of goat bells, and take the three Taliban sheepherders as prisoners for the moment. They find a walkie talkie, and Mike, and his men, start arguing over the right thing to do, to kill the men, tie them up and let them die on their own, or to release them and move up. They argue as to whether or not to follow their rules of engagement, and not kill unless fired upon, or do just kill them. Finally, they decide to let them go, and follow the rules of engagement. “If we kill these kids, it’s International news. CNN doesn’t care about Rules of Engagement. SEALs kill kids. That’s the story. Forever. Let them go. Shut it down.” (Berg52)

In different circumstances, people have to risk other people's lives to save their

Deceased philosopher Bertrand Russell once said, “War does not determine who is right- only who is left”. Those left are the soldiers of the 1-502nd, specifically Bravo Company 1st plt, and the Janabi family and to a greater extent, the ever-changing global world we all live in today. The tragic events that conspired in a small Iraqi village became a microcosm of how leadership failures at every level shaped the actions of a few soldiers who committed atrocious acts. One can also see how a high operational tempo, along with prolonged violence and death, has on a person’s psyche. It is the ugly side of war that the average American citizen may not want to hear or talk about. For a soldier, it is inevitably what they train their

While these three points are extensively discussed and dissected, it is apparent that the key factor that makes us professionals is the ethical standard that we must hold every individual soldier, from the lowest private to the highest general, to. One of the major points that are missing is what happens when the ethical standard is breeched and how it is dealt with.

For a given ethical dilemma, there is usually a dominant pair. Frequently, more than one must be considered, and sometimes all four. But, as Kidder

In looking at this decision-making dilemma that is focus on the mission of getting emergency supplies into worn torn areas the best option is to thoroughly analyze the situation and follow a Judeo-Christian ethics approach. Following Rushworth M. Kidder model for making the best ethical decision’s in media ethics the relevant facts are in a 3rd world country that’s currently in a civil war, supplied trucks are routinely stopped and drivers are intimated or killed by other civilian’s who steal the food to feed their families or villages, and the drivers believe that the situation Elbonian Relief project puts them in that drivers feel they have to be able to meet “financial Demands” from the armed looters to be able to pass by in

The following are the key ethical decision points shown in Platoon. In each of them soldiers make decisions with large ethical ramifications. For each example, where the

The third option, which was not introduced in the movie, involves the SEAL team taking the herders with the team until they could get evacuated. This would not violate the ROE because they are not killing the herders, and they are releasing them to leave once they ensure their own safety. Additionally, they are ensuring that the herders cannot run and notify the Taliban. This produces a situation where they have the best chance of preventing casualties.

Combating in modern warfare does not simply mean killing the enemy. There are ethical rules and standards of behavior that soldiers must strictly follow because these rules are essential for defeating the enemy, winning "hearts and minds" of potential allies, and maintain the morale of the troops. These tasks have become especially challenging in the face of the proliferation of guerilla warfare that has been adopted by weaker military forces in the twentieth- and twenty-first centuries. In fighting insurgencies, abiding by the ethical standards of the Army behavior may be even harder than in fighting conventional battles. The ethical rules may sometimes put the soldiers in dangerous positions. Disregarding the acceptable standards of behavior, however, may have even graver consequences, putting innocent non-combatants at risk and risking total demoralization of the Army unit participating in disorderly behavior. It is therefore essential that Army leaders maintain an ethical command climate during the war.

This pivotal scene showcases the conversation between the seals evaluating the multiple courses of action. At which,

Although the film “Saving Private Ryan” can be viewed through several moral views, overall the film can be best viewed through the deontological ethics. The majority of the film is based off of someone intending to do the right thing even when the consequences were high. The company had duties to uphold as soldiers and they did what they had to in order to fulfill them. According to Kant, humans usually know what they ought to do, and that is almost always the opposite of what they want to do (Rosenstand 2013, page 285).

Do you choose to pursuit the greater good and save the lives of many at the cost of one? Or do you favor the one due to other factors, such as age? Or do you do nothing and reap the benefits from the inevitable disaster? If the Colonel decided not to launch a strike or could not get approval, then the resulting suicide bombing would work in the military’s favor politically. The civilians and especially survivors would be more willing to support the military in their fight against the militants. But allowing those deaths to occur, when they could have been saved certainly is not the moral decision. And if those deaths did occur, could the blame be placed on the pilots as well? Second Lieutenant Watt refused an order when he failed to launch the strike. His decision to save that child, could have led to the deaths of many others, including the field agent, Farah, who had tried to get the child to move out of the kill

Every soldier in the ARMY of the United States of America knows the following phrase from the Soldier’s Creed: “I will always place the mission first” (ARMY.mil). The aforementioned is arguably the most powerful line in the Soldier’s Creed and exists in different variants across the branches of the military. The life of a soldier is not an easy one, so it is to be expected that there will be times that a soldier will have to make difficult decisions. Sometimes these decisions will dictate between life and death. However, the Soldier’s Creed and other oaths alike, are promises not only to one’s country and those serving beside you, but also an agreement with oneself to carry the weight of what it takes to fulfill his/her country. In the movie, Lone Survivor, four Navy Seals made the decision to spare the lives of three men which ultimately resulted in the death of three of the four Seals and 16 rescuers. I believe that the decision they made contradicted the idea of “mission first” and a more aggressive decision should have been elected.

During my time in the military there were many accounts of ethical and unethical decision making. When in uniform we are often forced to make quick decisions to get the job done. Like many organizations we also have our own code of ethics, morals and principles that we follow. The problem with this is that in times of need we often can make decisions that were unethical but got the task completed. We also must factor in the many differing opinions on what is ethical and what is not.