Mission Success versus Rules of Engagement:
The Ethical Dilemma of Lone Survivor Individuals at all echelons eventually face a situation where the solution is not entirely black and white. During day to day operations, the results of these moral gray area problems typically have no significant lasting effect. It is during wartime operations that soldiers are faced with ethical dilemmas that may lead them to give their own lives. Marcus Luttrell, along with his team of three other Navy SEALs, faced just this issue in the film Lone Survivor when their mission was compromised by three goat herders. The team’s decision to release the detainees and accept mission failure was the best solution despite the end result of losing three members of their …show more content…
During their argument about these options, one of the detainees starts to run away but is recaptured by Matt Axelson. This escalates tensions as it is more apparent that releasing the individuals will more than likely lead to the Taliban forces in the area below enveloping their position. To further complicate the issue, the team could not establish secure communications with their commander. Axelson and Danny Dietz use these complications as justification for terminating the detainees. Marcus Luttrell argues that “CNN doesn’t care about Rules of Engagement. SEALs kill kids. That’s the story. Forever.” (Berg & Berg, 2013) This comment is what seems to be Lieutenant Michael Murphy’s deciding factor leading to the release the …show more content…
Lieutenant Murphy’s decision to release the detainees was justified due to the fact that if the goat herders were found and confirmed to be killed by US forces, civilians in the region would be less likely to support our efforts and possibly lead to further recruitment of enemy soldiers. While the immediate end state of identifying and killing Ahmad Shah and Taraq would be a significant reduction in enemy command and control and the success of their operations against US and coalition forces, the long term ramifications may result in a backlash from the civilian populace that could put us into a worse situation than before. Even though there will always be the intrinsic risk that following the ROE may lead to a mission failure or the death of eleven SEALs team members and eight Army Night Stalkers, as was the case in Lone Survivor, commanders and individuals on the battlefield must keep the larger mission in
The Ethical Dilemma of Lone Survivor Individuals at all echelons eventually face a situation where the solution is not entirely black and white. During day to day operations, the results of these moral gray area problems typically have no significant lasting effect. It is during wartime operations that soldiers are faced with ethical dilemmas that may lead them to give their own lives. Marcus Luttrell, along with his team of three other Navy SEALs, faced just this issue in the film Lone Survivor when their mission was compromised by three goat herders. The team’s decision to release the detainees and accept mission failure was the best solution despite the end result of losing three members of their …show more content…
During their argument about these options, one of the detainees starts to run away but is recaptured by Matt Axelson. This escalates tensions as it is more apparent that releasing the individuals will more than likely lead to the Taliban forces in the area below enveloping their position. To further complicate the issue, the team could not establish secure communications with their commander. Axelson and Danny Dietz use these complications as justification for terminating the detainees. Marcus Luttrell argues that “CNN doesn’t care about Rules of Engagement. SEALs kill kids. That’s the story. Forever.” (Berg & Berg, 2013) This comment is what seems to be Lieutenant Michael Murphy’s deciding factor leading to the release the …show more content…
Lieutenant Murphy’s decision to release the detainees was justified due to the fact that if the goat herders were found and confirmed to be killed by US forces, civilians in the region would be less likely to support our efforts and possibly lead to further recruitment of enemy soldiers. While the immediate end state of identifying and killing Ahmad Shah and Taraq would be a significant reduction in enemy command and control and the success of their operations against US and coalition forces, the long term ramifications may result in a backlash from the civilian populace that could put us into a worse situation than before. Even though there will always be the intrinsic risk that following the ROE may lead to a mission failure or the death of eleven SEALs team members and eight Army Night Stalkers, as was the case in Lone Survivor, commanders and individuals on the battlefield must keep the larger mission in