Read the following article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/01/opinion/sunday/how-we-learned-to-kill.html?ref=opinion&_r=0
Answer the following questions related to the article:
1. What are the primary factors, according to the article's author, that affect an individual's ability to kill?
2. During his seven-month deployment in Afghanistan, who was the author constantly trying to kill? Did he eventually kill him/her?
3. What happened to how the author felt about his enemy the more he thought about him/her?
4. Who was the first Marine to be killed after 9/11?
5. If the two men that the author described killing were not planting a bomb, how could that situation be considered situational irony?
6. What is the tone of this article?
7. In your opinion, can soldiers, like the ones in the article, be held responsible for killing innocent citizens of another country, even if they don't know that they're "innocent"?
1. The primary factors include: the demands of authority, group absolution, the predisposition of the killer, the distance of the victim, and the attractiveness of the target.
ReplyDelete2. The author is constantly trying to kill the Taliban leader in his area. He never killed him.
3. The more he thought about the enemy the less he viewed them as evil,
4. A 19 year old Marine from Mississippi
5. The men would have been killed for no reason.
6. The tone is one of sympathy. The author does not place blame on anyone because he understands them.
7. Soldiers can and should be held responsible for all of their kills. No matter the extent. Quoting Chris Kyle here "I'm willing to meet my creator and answer for every shot I took." My paternal lineage has been involved in every major conflict since the war of 1812 and I take pride in knowing they had the courage to protect our freedom.
Tyler Poe
James Smelley
ReplyDelete1. "...The demands of authority, group absolution, the predisposition of the killer, the distance from the victim and the target attractiveness of the victim..."
2. The Taliban commander in his area.
3. He became less evil in his mind.
4. A 19 year old from Mississippi that enlisted right out of high school.
5. It would have been ironic that they happened to be doing something abnormal on the same night that the marines were there.
6. Very depressing, sad and cold.
7. No, because they are only following orders. Perhaps the people that give the orders aren't being careful enough.
MacKenzie Jones
ReplyDelete1) Demands of authority, group absolution, the predisposition of the killer, the distance from the victim and the target attractiveness of the victim.
2) The Taliban Commander
3) He felt it was hard to see them as evil or subhuman
4) A nineteen year old from Mississippi
5) Because the actions they took had an effect that wasn't expected nor intended
6) Understanding/realization
7) Yes, not only these soldiers but just about all soldiers in general kill innocent people. I completely understand that they may not know they're innocent but I feel that there is a way to come up with more ways to tell if they are armed or something. These people who are supposed to keep us safe are taking innocent lives which will provoke the "enemies" in the end to where they might want to kill some of us over here to get revenge.
Makenzie Taylor
ReplyDelete1) The demands of authority, group absolution, the predisposition of the killer, the distance from the victim, and the target attractiveness of the victim..
2) The Taliban commander in the area; Never.
3) He was finding it difficult to view them as evil or subhuman.
4) A 19-year-old from Mississippi.
5) Because the soldiers believed those people were not innocent and trying to plant a bomb, but it turns out that they were harmless and innocent after all.
6) The tone of this article is dark and somber.
7) This is a difficult question. I can kind of see both sides, but I'll try to put myself into their shoes. If I were a soldier in this situation, I probably would order them to try and get a closer look or ask if they could somehow identify these people. I hate the thought of having to kill anybody for the wrong reason because I would have a guilty conscience for the rest of my life. This is similar to the decisions policemen have to make today, though not as intense.
Lynsey Simpson:
ReplyDelete1. the demands of authority, group absolution, the predisposition of the killer, the distance from the victim and the target attractiveness of the victim.
2. the Taliban commander in his area, no.
3. He realized neither of them were fighting for the reason he expected.
4. a 19 year old who had enlisted just out of high school. '
5. Because the action the Marines were performing was not for what they had intended and they were hoping for high fives all around because they had stopped bombers but they had just stopped 2 innocent men from making it back home.
6. dark and dreary
7. No, because if they aren't completely sure that the person is endangering other soldiers and civilians, then they need to get rid of them, because they would much rather be safe than sorry. The military is doing their job and they should'nt be held accountable for doing their job
Alex Turner 3rd period
ReplyDelete1. The demands of authority, group absolution, the predisposition of the killer, the distance from the victim and the target attractiveness.
2. Taliban commander, no he didn't.
3. It changed the reason he thought he was really in Afghanistan.
4. A 19 year old from Mississippi
5. I think the irony in this is that the U.S. Military is trying to not only preserve our country's civilians and innocence but the innocent bystanders in Afghanistan who have nothing to do with the Taliban or ISIS. But yet that is who our military is killing they are killing the innocent to preserve the innocent.
6. I feel the tone of the article is do we people really understand what killing means and how it affects us.
7. I feel this can't just have one answer because there are multiple situations this can fall under. But I feel that every war calls for innocence to die either on the battlefield or it's not even your own body that dies but your friend beside you that could have been you and maybe your body survived but not your soul.
Kayla Fincher
ReplyDelete1. Demands if authority, group absolution, the predesposition of the killer, and the distance from the victim and the target
attractiveness of the victim
2.Taliban commander, no
3.it became harder for him to view them as the enemy
4. A 19 year old from Mississippi
5. If they weren't planting a bomb it would be situational irony because they didn't intend to kill anyone innocent.
6.the tone was kind of sad and regretful
7. No the soldier is doing his job in attempt to protect his people from threats. If they think somone may be a threat They have to do qhat they think is best and there is no true way of knowing if they are inncoent or not.
Carter Billings 3rd (1 They are the demands of authority, group absolution, the predisposition of the killer, and distance from the victim and the target attractiveness of the victim. (2 He was trying to kill the Taliban commander in the area and no never was able to kill him. (3 The more he thought about them the less evil he saw them as. (4 He was a nineteen year old boy from Mississippi. (5 It could be situational irony through the fact that as soon as the first Marine was killed there were two men planting a bomb. (6 The tone of the article is through a kind of regretful and downcast tone. (7 Soldiers should not be held responsible for the death of an innocent civilian, unless they are knowingly killing innocent civilians. It is truly a shame that people such as the Taliban soldiers set this mask on every citizen in that country. They have no way of knowing their intentions, and if they wait to see it may be to late. It is honestly a broken system.
ReplyDelete1) The demands of authority, group absolution, the predisposition of the killer, the distance from the victim and the target attractiveness of the victim.
ReplyDelete2) The Taliban commander, no.
3) It became harder to view the enemy as evil and subhuman.
4) A 19 year old from Mississippi.
5) If the two men weren't planting a bomb, then they weren't expecting to be killed, they were minding their own business.
6) Its like the author is reminiscing,not sure if there's a word for that.
7) No, you can't hold someone responsible for doing their job. Soldiers are at war to protect our country. Its a terrible thing to kill innocent people but innocent people die everyday. Its life.
1. the demands of authority, group absolution, the predisposition of the killer, the distance from the victim and the target attractiveness of the victim.
ReplyDelete2. the Taliban commander and no
3. The more harder it became to view them as evil or subhuman
4. a 19-year-old from Mississippi
5. That they were killed out of suspension not evidence
6. Somber an insiteful
7. No because they first are given orders and they are trying to protect the people and make the best decision because sometimes of you put yourself in the situation for your actions to be questioned there is reasonable dout with may look like you are trying to harm someone to whom they are trying to protect
Sydney Emmons
ReplyDelete1. The demands of authority, group absolution, the predisposition of the killer, the distance from the victim, and the target attractiveness of the victim.
2. The Taliban commander in his area. Nope.
3. It was harder to view him as evil the more he thought about him.
4. a 19-year old from Mississippi.
5. Because it was ironic that as soon as one of their marine dies, a bad person comes along instantly. And the marines were thirsty for blood after one of them were killed.
6. Sad, because many innocent people get murdered and scary, because it tells about some cruelty of this world.
7. Um, I guess if they believe that they are in danger, then its kind of mandatory for the marines to shoot them. But, I do think that the soldiers should be a little more careful before taking lives that they think may be innocent.
Emily Keller
ReplyDelete1) demands of authority, group absolution, the predisposition of the killer, the distance and target attractiveness
2) killing the Taliban leader; no
3)the harder it was to view them as evil
4) they didn't disclose his name, he was a 19 year old from Mississippi on his first tour
5)because they were trying to stop an attack, if they people were innocent then they would've only been creating one.
6) the author seems dead inside, he writes as if he's just chanting the same sentence over and over.
7) to me, the soldiers are doing something I would never want to endure. they signed up to protect our country. I do think its terribly sad when innocents get in the way, and the soldiers are somewhat responsible
Olivia LeComte
ReplyDelete1. Demands of authority
Group absolution
Predisposition of the killer
Distance from the victim
Target attractiveness of the victim.
2. The Taliban commander in his area. No.
3. It became harder for him to view them as evil.
4. A 19 year old from Mississippi
5. It could be considered irony because the marines were there to help the village, and all they are doing is harming it.
6. The tone is very cynical.
7. They shouldn't be. In the confusion of war they have no idea who is the enemy and who isn't. If they know that they aren't their enemy they should be held accountable. These soldiers are just following orders. They are essentially pawns on a game board. They often don’t know the bigger picture. If they are unaware of the innocence of the victim, They are in no way responsible for their orders.
Lorenzo B. Winston:
ReplyDelete1. The primary factors that affect an individual’s ability to kill are the demands of authority, group absolution, the predisposition of the killer, the distance from the victim and the target attractiveness of the victim.
2. The author was constantly trying to kill the Taliban commander in his area. The author never killed him.
3. The more he thought about the enemy, the harder it was to view them as evil or subhuman.
4. The first Marine to be grievously injured on the deployment exactly nine years and nine days after the Sept. 11 attacks was a 19-year-old from Mississippi on his first tour after enlisting straight out of high school.
5. It would be considered situational irony because being in Afghanistan, or any war, you would expect and ONLY expect for someone to plant a bomb or to do something that has to do with killing someone.
6. The tone of this article is serious, reflective, and somber because of losing a loved one in a situation that should not be taken as a joke.
7. In my opinion, it’s possible that a soldier can be held responsible for the killing of a person, but if the soldier don’t know that they are innocent, they shouldn’t be held responsible for the death of that person. Plus, it’s a WAR in Afghanistan; ANYBODY can get shot, killed, murdered, etc. Now if it is just a regular person NOT in a war and they killed an innocent person, even if the killer doesn’t know if the victim is innocent or not, depending on how major the situation is and how the situation is set up, then that person should be held responsible for the killing of the victim. It all comes down to what the person is and the situation.
Ke-Anna' Rich: 1. Demands of authority, group absolution, predisposition of the killer, and the distance and target attractiveness of the victim.
ReplyDelete2. The Taliban commander; No
3. He found it harder to see them as being evil.
4. A 19-year-old
5. They would be killing for revenge, something we think our military is against.
6. The article is very dismal
7. I don't think they are accountable if they feel threatened or were ordered to, but if everybody used that excuse then people would die for unnecessary reasons all the time.
Emily Perry-
ReplyDeleteThe primary factors, according to the article's author, the affect of an individuals ability to kill are the demands of authority, group absoloution, the prediposition of the killer, and the distance from the victim and the target attractiveness of the vitim. The author from the article was trying to kill the taliban officer nearby but he was never able to complete the task. The more he thought about his enemy, he began to believe they werent evil or cruel whatsoever. The first marine killed after 9/11 was a 19 year old from Mississippi on his first deployment after graduating high school. If the two men would have been innocent, the outcome would have been awful. The tone of this artictle would have to be irony. I am torn between the idea of them killing "innoncent" people because yes they may be completely innocent, but places of the unknown are very dangerous and there is danger all around these officers everyday.
Josie Parham
ReplyDelete1- Demands of authority, group absolution, the predisposition of the killer, the distance from the victim, and the target attractiveness of the victim
2- The Taliban commander in his area;no
3- Neither of them were fighting for the reasons he expected
4- A 19 year old from Mississippi straight out of high school
5- It was just like when he killed the two civilians on their way home and he was comparing it to a movie line
6- Very serious and resentful and sad kinda scarred from all the things that happened while he was in Afghanistan
7- I think that yeah it is pretty sad when that happens but we have NO idea how that soldier is feeling because they know that person was innocent so I think that before we go to judge them like that we should just think about how it feels to them to have to live with that the rest of their life.
Grace Singley
ReplyDelete1. "The demands of authority, group absolution, the predisposition of the killer, the distance from the victim and the target attractiveness of the victim."
2. The Taliban commander in his area; no he never killed him, instead he killed his soldiers.
3. The more he thought about the enemy, it became more difficult to see the enemy as evil.
4. A 19-year-old from Mississippi.
5. If the two men weren't really planting a bomb then it would be ironic because they died innocently, they were doing nothing wrong just like this author of this story's friend died when he was just as innocent and did nothing wrong.
6. I think the tone of this article is solemn and serious because he is describing how he learned to kill and how it could be a mistake if you kill an innocent person.
7. In my opinion, I think that soldiers can be held responsible for killing innocent citizens even if they didn't know they're "innocent" because it would be their fault; they could use some binoculars or find out more in depth to see if the person was armed or planting a bomb before they automatically killed them. But then again, the soldiers are just trying to do their job by protecting the county.
Leigh Davis
ReplyDelete1. Primary factors are demand of authority, group absolution, the predisposition of the killer, the distance of the victim, and the target attractiveness of the victim.
2. He was constantly trying to kill the Taliban commander in his area. No, he never killed him.
3. The more he thought about them the less he saw them as an enemy.
4.The first marine to be killed was a 19 year old male from Mississippi who was straight out of high school, he was shot in the neck.
5. If the two men were not planting bombs, but merely working and doing their job it could be considered situational irony because they don't intend on killing innocent people in the first place. They plan on killing people who are causing or potentially could cause harm on an area or a group of people.
6. The tone of this article is scarring, sad, and kind of scary because of all the things that it talks about in the article.
7. In my opinion i think that the soldiers can be held responsible to an extent. Because you never know who could be hurtful and who could be innocent. I think they were taking precautions so that other people would have less of a chance of being endangered. I think they were just trying to do their job and be thorough while doing it.
6
Abbey Kate Gregory
ReplyDelete1)Demands of authority, group absolution, the predisposition of the killer, the distance from the victim, and the target attractiveness of the victim
2)The Taliban commander in his area that was never killed
3) He saw them as less evil as he though about how they felt
4) A 19 year old from Mississippi
5) yes because they either thought the men were farming or planting bombs but they thought that it was too late to farm and they would have ended up killing men they thought doing evil things that were actually doing humble things.
6) The tone was sincere and hopeless
7) Yes they should be held responsible because they put themselves in that position and if they had any doubt in their minds they should know the consequences of the actions they would take
Troy Banks
ReplyDelete1. Demands of authority, group absolution, the predisposition of the killer, the distance from the victim, and the target attractiveness of the victim
2. the Taliban commander in his area
3. the more he thought about him the less he viewed him as being evil
4. a 19-year-old from Mississippi
5. Because if they weren't doing anything wrong and the soldiers killed them, then, in turn, the soldiers would be doing something wrong.
6. It had a sad tone
7. Yes. Some would say no because the soldiers are "just following orders," but I disagree. Those soldiers don't have to follow the orders they're given. If some old, rich men want to wage war, let them fight it!
Jailen Stockdale
ReplyDelete1. Demands of authority, group absolution, the predisposition of the killer, the distance from the victim, and the target attractiveness of the victim
2. A Taliban commander in his area, No
3. He saw him as less and less evil as he continued to think
4. Nineteen years old from Mississippi
5. It would be situational irony because the man that thought he was doing something good (to a certain extent) by killing an enemy in reality would've been commiting an evil act himself.
6. The tone was pretty solemn and sad
7. Yes they can be held accountable for their killings. Even if they do not know they are innocent they shouldn't just kill on a whim. But the bad thing about it is, there's honestly no way to know someone's true intentions.