Homework Help is Here – Start Your Trial Now!
Social Science
Psychology
In June 2005, a special forces team made up of Petty Officer Marcus Luttrell and three other U.S. Navy SEALS set out on a secret reconnaissance mission in Afghanistan, near the Pakistan border, in search of a Taliban leader, a close associate of Osama bin Laden. According to intelligence reports, their target commanded 140 to 150 heavily armed fighters and was staying in a village in the forbidding mountainous region. Shortly after the special forces team took up a position on a mountain ridge overlooking the village, two Afghan farmers with about a hundred bleating goats happened upon them. With them was a boy about fourteen years old. The Afghans were unarmed. The American soldiers trained their rifles on them, motioned for them to sit on the ground, and then debated what to do about them. On the one hand, the goatherds appeared to be unarmed civilians. On the other hand, letting them go would run the risk that they would inform the Taliban of the presence of the U.S. soldiers. As the four soldiers contemplated their options, they realized that they didn't have any rope, so tying up the Afghans to allow time to find a new hideout was not feasible. The only choice was kill them or let them go free. One of Luttrell's comrades argued for killing the goatherds: “We're on active duty behind enemy lines, sent here by our senior commanders. We have a right to do everything we can to save our own lives. The military decision is obvious. To turn them loose would be wrong." Luttrell was torn. "In my soul, I knew he was right," he wrote in retrospect. “We could not possibly turn them loose. But my trouble is, I have another soul. My Christian soul. And it was crowding in on me. Something kept whispering in the back of my mind, it would be wrong to execute these unarmed men in cold blood." Luttrell didn't say what he meant by his Christian soul, but in the end, his conscience didn't allow him to kill the goatherds. He cast the deciding vote to release them. (One of his three comrades had abstained.) Question: Did commander Lutrell do the right thing?

In June 2005, a special forces team made up of Petty Officer Marcus Luttrell and three other U.S. Navy SEALS set out on a secret reconnaissance mission in Afghanistan, near the Pakistan border, in search of a Taliban leader, a close associate of Osama bin Laden. According to intelligence reports, their target commanded 140 to 150 heavily armed fighters and was staying in a village in the forbidding mountainous region. Shortly after the special forces team took up a position on a mountain ridge overlooking the village, two Afghan farmers with about a hundred bleating goats happened upon them. With them was a boy about fourteen years old. The Afghans were unarmed. The American soldiers trained their rifles on them, motioned for them to sit on the ground, and then debated what to do about them. On the one hand, the goatherds appeared to be unarmed civilians. On the other hand, letting them go would run the risk that they would inform the Taliban of the presence of the U.S. soldiers. As the four soldiers contemplated their options, they realized that they didn't have any rope, so tying up the Afghans to allow time to find a new hideout was not feasible. The only choice was kill them or let them go free. One of Luttrell's comrades argued for killing the goatherds: “We're on active duty behind enemy lines, sent here by our senior commanders. We have a right to do everything we can to save our own lives. The military decision is obvious. To turn them loose would be wrong." Luttrell was torn. "In my soul, I knew he was right," he wrote in retrospect. “We could not possibly turn them loose. But my trouble is, I have another soul. My Christian soul. And it was crowding in on me. Something kept whispering in the back of my mind, it would be wrong to execute these unarmed men in cold blood." Luttrell didn't say what he meant by his Christian soul, but in the end, his conscience didn't allow him to kill the goatherds. He cast the deciding vote to release them. (One of his three comrades had abstained.) Question: Did commander Lutrell do the right thing?

Ciccarelli: Psychology_5 (5th Edition)
Ciccarelli: Psychology_5 (5th Edition)
5th Edition
ISBN:9780134477961
Author:Saundra K. Ciccarelli, J. Noland White
Publisher:Saundra K. Ciccarelli, J. Noland White
Chapter1: The Science Of Psychology
Section: Chapter Questions
Problem 1TY
See similar textbooks
icon
Related questions
Question

PLEASE EXPLAIN YOUR ANSWER/S THOROUGHLY IN SENTENCES/PARAGRAPH, AND NOT IN BULLET FORM

"The Afghan Goatherds" Excerpt taken from Michael Sandel, Justice. What's the right thing to do? (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2010). In June 2005, a special forces team made up of Petty Officer Marcus Luttrell and three other U.S. Navy SEALS set out on a secret reconnaissance mission in Afghanistan, near the Pakistan border, in search of a Taliban leader, a close associate of Osama bin Laden. According to intelligence reports, their target commanded 140 to 150 heavily armed fighters and was staying in a village in the forbidding mountainous region. Shortly after the special forces team took up a position on a mountain ridge overlooking the village, two Afghan farmers with about a hundred bleating goats happened upon them. With them was a boy about fourteen years old. The Afghans were unarmed. The American soldiers trained their rifles on them, motioned for them to sit on the ground, and then debated what to do about them. On the one hand, the goatherds appeared to be unarmed civilians. On the other hand, letting them go would run the risk that they would inform the Taliban of the presence of the U.S. soldiers. As the four soldiers contemplated their options, they realized that they didn't have any rope, so tying up the Afghans to allow time to find a new hideout was not feasible. The only choice was to kill them or let them go free. One of Luttrell's comrades argued for killing the goatherds: "We're on active duty behind enemy lines, sent here by our senior commanders. We have a right to do everything we can to save our own lives. The military decision is obvious. To turn them loose would be wrong." Luttrell was torn. “In my soul, I knew he was right," he wrote in retrospect. "We could not possibly turn them loose. But my trouble is, I have another soul. My Christian soul. And it was crowding in on me. Something kept whispering in the back of my mind, it would be wrong to execute these unarmed men in cold blood." Luttrell didn't say what he meant by his Christian soul, but in the end, his conscience didn't allow him to kill the goatherds. He cast the deciding vote to release them. (One of his three comrades had abstained.) Question: Did commander Lutrell do the right thing?
Transcribed Image Text:"The Afghan Goatherds" Excerpt taken from Michael Sandel, Justice. What's the right thing to do? (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2010). In June 2005, a special forces team made up of Petty Officer Marcus Luttrell and three other U.S. Navy SEALS set out on a secret reconnaissance mission in Afghanistan, near the Pakistan border, in search of a Taliban leader, a close associate of Osama bin Laden. According to intelligence reports, their target commanded 140 to 150 heavily armed fighters and was staying in a village in the forbidding mountainous region. Shortly after the special forces team took up a position on a mountain ridge overlooking the village, two Afghan farmers with about a hundred bleating goats happened upon them. With them was a boy about fourteen years old. The Afghans were unarmed. The American soldiers trained their rifles on them, motioned for them to sit on the ground, and then debated what to do about them. On the one hand, the goatherds appeared to be unarmed civilians. On the other hand, letting them go would run the risk that they would inform the Taliban of the presence of the U.S. soldiers. As the four soldiers contemplated their options, they realized that they didn't have any rope, so tying up the Afghans to allow time to find a new hideout was not feasible. The only choice was to kill them or let them go free. One of Luttrell's comrades argued for killing the goatherds: "We're on active duty behind enemy lines, sent here by our senior commanders. We have a right to do everything we can to save our own lives. The military decision is obvious. To turn them loose would be wrong." Luttrell was torn. “In my soul, I knew he was right," he wrote in retrospect. "We could not possibly turn them loose. But my trouble is, I have another soul. My Christian soul. And it was crowding in on me. Something kept whispering in the back of my mind, it would be wrong to execute these unarmed men in cold blood." Luttrell didn't say what he meant by his Christian soul, but in the end, his conscience didn't allow him to kill the goatherds. He cast the deciding vote to release them. (One of his three comrades had abstained.) Question: Did commander Lutrell do the right thing?
Expert Solution
trending now

Trending now

This is a popular solution!

steps

Step by step

Solved in 2 steps

SEE SOLUTIONCheck out a sample Q&A here
Blurred answer
Recommended textbooks for you
Ciccarelli: Psychology_5 (5th Edition)
Ciccarelli: Psychology_5 (5th Edition)
Psychology
ISBN:
9780134477961
Author:
Saundra K. Ciccarelli, J. Noland White
Publisher:
PEARSON
Cognitive Psychology
Cognitive Psychology
Psychology
ISBN:
9781337408271
Author:
Goldstein, E. Bruce.
Publisher:
Cengage Learning,
Introduction to Psychology: Gateways to Mind and …
Introduction to Psychology: Gateways to Mind and …
Psychology
ISBN:
9781337565691
Author:
Dennis Coon, John O. Mitterer, Tanya S. Martini
Publisher:
Cengage Learning
Psychology in Your Life (Second Edition)
Psychology in Your Life (Second Edition)
Psychology
ISBN:
9780393265156
Author:
Sarah Grison, Michael Gazzaniga
Publisher:
W. W. Norton & Company
Cognitive Psychology: Connecting Mind, Research a…
Cognitive Psychology: Connecting Mind, Research a…
Psychology
ISBN:
9781285763880
Author:
E. Bruce Goldstein
Publisher:
Cengage Learning
Theories of Personality (MindTap Course List)
Theories of Personality (MindTap Course List)
Psychology
ISBN:
9781305652958
Author:
Duane P. Schultz, Sydney Ellen Schultz
Publisher:
Cengage Learning
SEE MORE TEXTBOOKS