Protests Against the Vietnam War - 996 Words

James A. Baldwin once said, â€Å"The most dangerous creation of any society is the man who has nothing to lose† (BrainyQuote.com). In the 1960s, â€Å"the man† was youth across the country. The Vietnam war was in full force, and students across the country were in an outrage. Society needed an excuse to rebel against the boring and safe way of life they were used to; Vietnam gave them the excuse they needed. Teenagers from different universities came together and formed various organizations that protested the Vietnam war for many reasons. These reasons included protesting weapons and different tactics used in the war, and the reason the U.S. entered the war in the first place. These get-togethers had such a monumental impact on their way of†¦show more content†¦A capsule was drawn by Congressman Alexander Pirnie, any man born between 1944 and 1950 has their name in the capsule and if drawn, must participate in the war. This angered Americans because it was a gainst their will, and they felt as if the government was controlling every aspect of their life. Another reason American adults were against the war was because of the weapons and strategic tactics used in the war. As stated in â€Å"Weapons of the Vietnam War†, Weapons used in the Vietnam War were more mortifying than in any other war. The communist side (the Soviet Union) used not only your standardized weapons, but they also used toxic chemicals and explosives (History.com). South Vietnam was in real trouble, the American-manufactured weapons were no match to the devastating weapons that the communists used. Back at the homefront, people were horrified when they caught wind of what was happening out in battle, this egged on more protests. In accordance with â€Å"Vietnam War Protests†, The SDS organized more Anti-war marches and other protests after the United States retaliated on North Vietnam by beginning to bomb them (History.com). The cost of materials were goi ng up and it was getting more expensive to make the bombs and other weapons, the U.S. was putting a whole $25 billion a year into manufacturing these supplies. This upset Americans not just on a moral level anymore, but also on an economic level; the governmentShow MoreRelated The Vietnam War and the Protest Against It Essay3560 Words   |  15 Pagesboth in the Vietnam War and in the struggle to stop it. I learned that patriotism includes protest, not just military service.† The Vietnam War was a conflict that lasted from 1956-1975 which the United States participated in along with the South Vietnamese who fought against the Communist North Vietnamese. Many Americans strongly disapproved of the war which caused many protests and riots. The war lasted 25 years killing many people and eventually the North Vietnamese won. The Vietnam War was importantRead MoreThe Moratorium March 752 Words   |  4 PagesNovember 15, 1969, the Moratorium March against the Vietnam War commenced in Washington D.C. Pacifists and peace administrators carried banners which stated, †A Calvinist for peace, No more war, We want peace now,† and some carried placards bearing the name of soldiers that had died during the war (Leen). The placards that had names of fallen soldiers were first used on November 13, 1969 during the protest called â€Å"March against Death.† Two days after this protest, the â€Å"Moratorium March† began. ThisRead MoreVietnam War Protests1552 Words   |  6 Pages Vietnam War Protests Introduction How the Americans Got Involved During the Cold War, American political leadership was determined to slow the spread of communism wherever it could be slowed. The policy that American leadership followed (The Domino Theory) was that if the communists took over one country, the countries around that nation would soon fall to the communists, like dominos. Hence, communism needed to be stopped. President Dwight Eisenhower initially sent some advisors (an estimatedRead MoreFacts About The Vietnam War1511 Words   |  7 Pageslongest recorded and arguably one of the most controversial wars in American history is the Vietnam war. In 1959, the communist government of North Vietnam had devised a guerrilla campaign in democratic South Vietnam. The government of North Vietnam had the goal of uniting both countries under a communist reign. The United States quickly became an ally with South Vietnam because they feared the spread of communism. The aftermath of the war resulted in sixty thousand American deaths and two million Read MoreHis/135 Week 5 Assignment Vietnam War761 Words   |  4 PagesThe Vietnam War is one of America’s longest lasting wars beginning in 1955, and lasting until 1975. The United States became involved in the Vietnam War because of its efforts to stop communism in Southeast Asia. The United States feared that if communist took over Southeast Asia it would cause a domino effect around the world. The United States began sending financial aid and military advisors to South Vietnam to help stop a communist takeover. North Vietnam was run by communist leader Ho Chi MinhRead MoreThe War Of The Vietnam War1072 Words   |  5 PagesThe Vietnam War was one of the most deadly wars in history, taking over three million lives during the 20-year war. It began in the mid 50’s, between Northern and Southern Vietnam. The United States joined the Vietnam War in 1965, and by 1969 there were about 500,000 U.S. soldiers involved with the war. The war began to slow down in ‘73 w hen President Nixon pulled the American troops, and the long hard war ended in 1975 after the Communists seized control. The Vietnam war was considered wrongRead MoreThe Song Bring Em Home 1743 Words   |  7 Pages The song â€Å"Bring ‘em Home† was a protest song about the Vietnam War. The song was written and performed by Pete Seeger. Pete Seeger was born in May 3, 1919. Since birth Pete Seeger had a musical orientated childhood. His parents were both involved with music in some way. His father majored in musicology and his mother was a concert violinist. Pete became interested with music in his teenage years. Seeger went on to the Harvard University but later dropped out. â€Å"Pete met, traveled and performed withRead More Austrailas Involvment in the Vietnam War1048 Words   |  5 PagesWhy did Australia become involved in the Vietnam War? Australia first came involved in the Vietnam conflict in 1962 when the Australian Government sent a team of thirty army advisers to help train the South Vietnamese Army for its fight against the NLF guerrillas. At the same time a squadron of Royal Australian Air Force fighters were sent to nearby Thailand. While the alliance with the USA was becoming increasingly important, Australia still had strong ties with Britian. In January 1965, AustraliaRead MoreThe Anti-War and Hippie Movements1344 Words   |  5 Pageswas born in the midst of the Vietnam War. Many people protested against the Vietnam War and the horrors that many people saw on TV because of it. Many incidents triggered the Anti-War movement and the Hippie counter culture such as the growing United States involvement in Southern Vietnam, the gruesome images that the evening news showed uncensored, the draft that caused many thousands of men to lose their lives and their minds as the end result of the war. This war triggered a great sense of whatRead MoreEssay on Johnsons War: The Domino Effect1031 Words   |  5 PagesSpecial Forces in South Vietnam but President Johnson made the decision to engage in full warfare in the region. Because Johnson decided to engage in full warfare, it is fair and truthful to dub the Vietnam conflict, â€Å"Johnson’s War.† After President Johnson finished JFK’s term, he was in a bit of a â€Å"pickle.† Johnson wanted to stay the course in Vietnam but he feared that a military setback in the region would tarnish his image for the upcoming election. Johnson campaigned against Arizona Senator Barry

ReligionFinalpaper - 1535 Words

Shelby Teal Professor Thompson Final Paper Part one â€Å"Critical intelligence involves a number of different intellectual skills including analysis and synthesis (Kessler, p.6.) My understanding of critical intelligence is a viewpoint withholding judgement and being critical while looking at different religions. As a student practicing critical Intelligence in this class was a huge part of understanding the case studies. In the case Adding Eid the Superintendent of the Cambridge Public School Jeff Young took on a large issue when he was asked to add a Muslim holiday to the school calendar. At first he just wanted the issue to go away, asking himself if it really was a battle he wanted to choose. Later, he realized it was a really†¦show more content†¦Later he realized that in his heart he truly believed the holiday should be on the school calendar and the school day should be given off to all students. I originally felt like it should not be added because It wasnt a largely practiced religion event where Im from. As I went through and dissected the case I found that there were a lot of people that would indeed benefit from having the holiday added. Muslim students benefit the most because they can enjoy the Holiday without missing tests, or important assignments that impact their grades. Parents would be less stressed on the holiday if they didnt have to have it interrupted by needing to pick their child up from school or worry about calling into school when they should be celebrating their faith. I imagined if we didnt get Christmas off and I had to go to school instead. A lot of memories from the holiday wouldnt happen. I think Holidays are an important part of religion, and are a very sacred time for families. You cant make one Holiday more important than the other, because when you do you undermine and insult other important religious holidays. When I read the scholarly article an interesting perspective was introduced to me. What if I were to go to another country that wasnt christian? Would my holidays be recognized at all? Being that Christianity is the major religion in America, I support adding Eid to the school calendars, but am not going to be a huge activist on the

Global Food Security How Best to Feed the World

Question: Explain? How Global food security best to feed the world? Answer: In this assignment it will be discussed that how the professional food science technologists are utilizing their expertise in the food science and technology in United Kingdom. In this assignment it has also been discussed that what the personal qualities a food science technologists required for complying themselves with the accurate communications and skills. In United Kingdom and also in other European Union countries this study has been making an outstanding mark in the world. Food science and technology is one of the most well-liked subjects of todays generation. This subject has given a very good carrier option to the students. By studying this course the students can make their future in this department and take care about the food habits of the common people. Food science is that study where the physical, chemical and biological make up has been done of the food and in this the underlying process of the food processing is also been done and food technology is that type of science where the food selection, processing, preservation, packaging and distribution has been done to keep the food safe (Robertson, 2012). Food and science technology is that subject where after studying about this subject they go into that profession where they have to check the food qualities which are served in different restaurants and hotels. They test the food qualities that which is better to use and which are not. For a food science professional their main work is to test the kitchen work whether the kitchen is kept clean or not. The foods which are being used are fresh or not. The utensils in which the foods are cooked and also kept are cleaned or not because the hygiene factors need to be maintained so that the name of the restaurant and the hotels remain high and the customers keep on coming (Gunstone, Ed.2011). A professional food science technologist always keeps writing about their product specification so that they can give their specification to the hotel managers and also to the restaurant or caf managers so that they the kitchen and its environment clean and keep all the products in their place hygieni c. Now a days each and every customers are always keep the hygienic factor in their top most priority( Bucchi, and Trench, Eds.2014). So, to keep their customers satisfied and also keep their place up to dated and hygienic the managers have to always keep themselves in touch with the food science technologists who will tell them how to keep everything perfect. The food science technologists need to keep contact with the suppliers who are delivering the raw materials to the hotels and restaurants. They have to give them strict instructions that they should supply fresh food and also should maintain the hygiene and the cold storage where the restaurant owners and hotels owners are keeping their raw materials need to be clean so that the food should be fresh and none of the raw materials should be worm affected. The food which are being kept in the cold storage need to be checked on a daily basis that no of them are not getting rotten because if one of the items start getting affected by the worms then it will rot other raw materials also and these will create a big problem for the owners of the restaurants and hotels. The food science technologists should organize events and give workshops to the students of this course that how to keep the standard of the food qualities (Sun, Ed.2012). They also should organize events for the customers and show them that how they are keeping the hygiene factors for restaurants and hotels and how they take care of the raw materials in their cold storage and from where they are buying their raw materials which they are using in their hotels and also maintaining the hygiene factors of their respective kitchen. This events or the workshop will help the customers to understand that how they maintain their kitchen keeping in mind about the hygiene factors for their customers. The food science technologists goes for one to one talk with the managers and tell them about their view of checking the food qualities which they are serving t o their customers and guests and also listens to the managers view and also what steps they are taking for maintaining the food qualities of their place (Campbell-Platt, 2009). When the parents comes with their wards to the restaurants then the food science technologists have to talk with them how the restaurant are keeping their hygiene factors so that the parents do not have to think about the hygiene factors maintained in the restaurants and they also suggests the parents by what steps they can keep their home more hygienic and also the food which can be kept germ free and keep their wards away from diseases. They can give the parents a course on nutrition so that they can make their wards eat nutritious food but now a days keeps running away from healthy foods and always wants to have unhealthy and junk foods. So, the technologists can teach the parents to make the nutritious food tasty so that the wards do not create any problem while having them (Rockland, and Stewart Eds 2013 ). The food technologists should have a session with a group of kids and tell them about the hygienic food which they should have to keep themselves healthy and fit so that they can become a famous sportsman in their future. The technologists should also tell the kids about all the positive and goods things they should do to keep them fit and healthy (Rao, and Ahmed,Eds. 2014).. The food technologists can also give cooking sessions to the parents and also to food stall owners and chefs on how to maintain the qualities of the food so that the main healthy factors within the food remains and do not wash away while washing the foods and also while cooking them (Walstra, and Geurts, 2014). The food technologists should also write in bulletins so that they can give their messages to all those people also with whom they cannot contact face to face and make them aware of the hygienic sense of the food qualities so that they can maintain the food qualities at home and also in their work pla ce i.e. in restaurants and hotels (Stumbo, 2013). The food technologists should also manage web pages where they can give their important inputs to the whole world about food qualities and how the people should maintain the food qualities. They also responds to the emails and newsletters which the common people send them asking about the quires and the technologists tries to solve their queries as much as they can (Li-Chan, and Griffiths,Eds .2011). The technologists should have a good communication skill which will help them for communicating with the cooks of the restaurants and the managers of the hotels and restaurants. They should possess the ability of working in a team because they have to work in a team and they should also be flexible with their work timing because they might be needed at any place at any point of time. As they have to work online also so they need to be good in their IT skills and with team work they also should have the ability in partnership working (Gra nato, and Jarvis, 2014).As a food technologists they should always be on phone as they have to travel a lot away from home so they can be connected at anytime and anywhere with their queries. To reach a lot of people and tell them about the food qualities and how they should maintain the hygiene factors to keep themselves fit and healthy so they should attend lot of conferences and seminars and make the people aware about all this factors. They should always be updated with the latest researches which are being taking place so that while going for a conference and seminars they can inform the audience about the latest techniques the food science departments are inventing for keeping the food qualities better and hygienic. They travel to various restaurants and hotels and test the taste and also the food quality and they are maintaining the hygiene factors or not and on that they will be writing the report and then submit it to the ministry and any hotel or restaurant owners are foun d guilty then they are penalized. They also keeps check on the suppliers that whether they are sending good quality raw materials or not and the place where they are keeping the food are maintaining the hygienic factors or not and they also have to keep the link between the laboratories where the food qualities are tested and also with the technical department where the whole processing takes place till the distribution part so that the foods are safe for having. As a professional food science technologist, I also have to maintain these roles which a professional technologist maintains but the company where I work is situated in Birmingham and this company is among the niche sectors and the role played by this company is from the storage to the distribution of the meat processing. This company is a meat processing plant where the processing of different types of meat is done (Markakis, Ed.2012). This company supplies meat to all the hotels, restaurants of that area. They have to maintain the quality of the food so that its hygiene factor is maintained and does not affect the health of the people who are consuming this meat. The role or the position that is been maintained by me in these company is of the technical assistant. I am the line manager of the technical department so I have to actively involve myself in all other departments also (Taylor, 2012). So, the work which I have to look after is the procedures and the policies of the compan y are well maintained by the employees or not. I also have to maintain the record sheets of the company as I am the line manager and involving myself in all other departmental work also. As a line manager, have to hear all the complaints of the customers also regarding the food quality and also other problems which they are facing regarding the meat that has been delivered to them and also have to look after the trainings that the company is giving to their new employees who have recently joined the company. As a line manager also have to monitor the PRPs and CCPs of the company (Liener, Ed.2012). The set up of the meat processing plant are also been maintained so that the systems are working in the right way or not and also in the machines which are used for processing the meat. I also have to look after the compliance of the company and if there is any then that should be solved without any such problems for the company and also for other employees working in the company (Stewart, and Amerine, 2012). As a line manager also have to solve the micro issues which are happening under my department so that it does not affect the working structure of the other employees. Audits need to be done to see that all the work which are being done are done properly or not without any difficulties and the audits are also being done to see whether the work which is done by the employees are done in the correct way or not. The employees who are been trained in the operating section are need to be given training on each and every part of the operating section so that if there is any problem then they can solve them by themselves only without taking help from outside (Stephen, and Phillips Eds.2014). The things which are been produced need to be tried before sending them for processing, preservation and packaging. As a line manager I also have to see the competition of the market so that our company also gives a tough competition to the other food processing competitors of the m arket. One of my major concerns should be that my company is maintaining the quality and the hygiene factors of the company or not and people are more conscious about these two factors (Cornelissen, 2011). For maintain the quality and the hygiene factors the company is sourcing the waste control, pest controls and also the chemicals which are being used for cleaning are well maintained or not. The hygiene factors need to be operative along with the titration checking of the chemicals (Campbell-Platt, Ed.2011). In a nutshell it can be said that the post of food science technologists is very crucial because they are looking after the health factor the consumers so that they do not consume any unhygienic things which will affect their health. As a food science technologist they should always keep the common public aware that what type of they should have for maintaining their health and also what steps they should take for maintain for keep the food qualities high. The technologists also have to maintain the hygienic sense of the company where the food is processed so that the customers do not have any problem regarding the processed food along with that the production of the company also needs to be maintained also the marketing section so that they can give a good competition to their competitors. So at last it can be said that we should consume healthy and hygienic food to ourselves fit and healthy. References Bucchi, M., and Trench, B. (Eds.) (2014)Handbook of public communication of science and technology Routledge Platt, G (2009) Food science and technology Chichester : Wiley-Blackwell Campbell-Platt, G. (Ed.). (2011).Food science and technology John Wiley and Sons. Cornelissen, J.P. (2011) Corporate communication: a guide to theory and practice.London,SAGE Publications Ltd Granato, D., de Arajo Calado, V. M., and Jarvis, B. (2014). Observations on the use of statistical methods in food science and technologyFood Research International,55, 137-149 Gunstone, F (Ed.) (2011)Vegetable oils in food technology: composition, properties and uses. John Wiley and Sons Li-Chan, E., Chalmers, J., and Griffiths, P. (Eds.). (2011).Applications of vibrational spectroscopy in Food Science(Vol. 1) John Wiley and Sons Liener, I. (Ed.). (2012).Toxic constituents of plant foodstuffs Elsevier Markakis, P. (Ed.). (2012) Anthocyanins as food colors Elsevier Rao, M. A., Rizvi, S. S., Datta, A. K., and Ahmed, J (Eds.) (2014)Engineering properties of foods. CRC press Robertson, G. L. (2012).Food packaging: principles and practice. CRC press Rockland, L. B., and Stewart G. F (Eds.) (2013)Water activity: influences on food quality: a treatise on the influence of bound and free water on the quality and stability of foods and other natural products Academic Press Stephen, A. M., and Phillips G. O. (Eds.). (2014).Food polysaccharides and their applications(Vol. 160) CRC Press Stewart, G. F., and Amerine, M. A. (2012).Introduction to food science and technology Elsevier Stumbo, C. R. (2013).Thermobacteriology in food processing Elsevier Sun, D. W. (Ed.). (2012).Thermal food processing: new technologies and quality issues. CRC Press Taylor, S. (2012).The chemistry and technology of pectin R. H Walter (Ed.) Academic Press Walstra, P., Walstra, P., Wouters, J. T., and Geurts, T. J. (2014).Dairy science and technology CRC press

Killing the Innocence in War, Justified or Murder

Abstract The debate surrounding the justification of deaths of innocent people caused by warring soldiers during war is a complicated issue to deal with. For fear of being attacked by disguised enemies, soldiers have ended up killing innocent civilians including older men, women, and children. While some people have argued that this may be acceptable, others think otherwise.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Killing the Innocence in War, Justified or Murder? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More To a large extent, this is linked to the belief that human beings are mostly reasonable. Generally, killing of civilians during war time is regarded as a serious offence that should be dealt with carefully if the innocent have to receive protection. On the other hand, however, it is possible for warring soldiers to find themselves in difficult situations requiring them to act fast to protect themselves from attackers unknown to them. This is especially true whenever a soldier is fighting on the enemy’s soil. While it is ordinarily believed that most civilians especially women and children are the innocent ones, there are instances where they have been used by soldiers to ferry dangerous weapons to be used against the opponents. This has led to situations where a soldier ignores the fact a civilian may be innocent and goes ahead to kill in self defense. This is based on the fact that it may be difficult to determine the innocence of the civilian. To be on the safe side, soldiers generally regard every person as a potential threat. Introduction The appeal to what would cause outrage in the general sentiments of humanity is a common way to think about the elements of normal moral perception of which each person is thought to be capable. Certain things are thought to be so heinous that any person would be outraged when perceiving them. The killing of civilians during war time is one of the commonly cite d examples of this kind of monstrous act (May, 2005). But consider, for a moment, the conditions of war fare when one is acting in enemy territory. In some war time situations, every person, soldier or civilian, is a potential threat. If the civilians seem to be unarmed, and the soldiers are armed, then the idea of the civilians as potential threats is only partially blunted, because the soldiers often do not know which civilians are members of the enemy forces.Advertising Looking for essay on ethics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Arguments for and Against Killing the Innocent in War It is clearly an outrage against the sentiments of humanity for soldiers to kill civilian men, women, and children? Initially, it seems that the answer would be clearly yes, as was held by the American military tribunal that convicted Lieutenant Calley. The shooting of seemingly unarmed civilians, especially children, at point blank range, appea red to be morally outrageous. Virtually, all societies have had strong moral prohibitions against the taking of innocent life (McMahan, 2009). The standard morally acceptable bases for justified killings, whether in self defense or in defense of others, can not be seen to justify killing those who do not have the capacity to harm or kill a well armed, typically male, adult soldier. Ordinarily, soldiers are trained to kill. When soldiers follow their training, and kill, it is not as much of an outrage as it would be for a non soldier to engage in such killing. But when a soldier or non soldier kills an innocent person, especially a child, this is considered to be enough of an outrage to our civilized instincts to think that it should be heavily sanctioned so as to prevent future acts of this sort at almost any cost (Buhk, 2012). In My Lai massacre, it is uncontested that Lieutenant Calley and his men killed more than 100 unarmed civilian men, women, and children. However, as one read s through the various court opinions in the case, there is quite a lot of disagreement of how best to characterize these killings. As pointed out earlier, the military tribunal found Calley guilty of war crimes, and the Court of Military Review upheld the conviction. But the first civilian court to consider the case took a very different position. Here is how the U.S. District Court characterized some of the facts: The petitioner was 25 years of age and had been an enlisted man for approximately 14 years. The petitioner’s first assignment in Vietnam was at Doc Pho. This was the first indoctrination about the character of the potential enemy. He was told that women were as dangerous as men, and that children were even more dangerous because they were unsuspected. He was also informed that women were frequently better shots than the men and that the children were used to plant mines and booby traps. During Calley’s earlier limited missions, the unit was continually subje ct to fire from unknown and unseen individuals.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Killing the Innocence in War, Justified or Murder? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More A number of men in the company had been killed or wounded and prior to the operation at My Lai, they had never seen the persons responsible for the death or injuries of their buddies. Consequently, the formed the opinion that civilians were in part responsible. When Calley was supposedly to go to My Lai and kill everyone there, his background assumption seems to have been that all the people in the village, including men, women, and children, were enemies and potential threats. The U.S. District Court, therefore, granted Calley’s petition for habeas corpus relief in part because of how it understood the facts. On the other hand, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed the U.S. District, also at least in part because of its very different construal of the factual record. In reversing the U.S. District Court, the Circuit Court of Appeals seemed to see the My Lai incident as nothing other than a slaughter of unarmed, unresisting old men, women, and children. What complicated the picture in My Lai was that the distinction between civilian and combatant had become blurred, with even fairly small children being used to transport weapons. So while there may be strong sentiments against the killing of civilians, especially children, there was a possible defense in the case of My Lai that might have been an exception to the moral judgment about what was normally acceptable or appropriate behavior. For there was reason, according to the US District Court, to believe that some civilians, and even some children, could be trying to inflict injury or death on the American soldiers in this Vietnamese hamlet.Advertising Looking for essay on ethics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More At Calley’s military trial, and also in the US Circuit Court of Appeals, such reasons were indeed considered and rejected, after much discussion and debate. However, the US District Court seemed to believe that some of the civilians who were killed might have been thought to be threats to the soldiers in Lieutenant Calley’s unit. In retrospect, it seems that the District Court opinion was seriously flawed. For even if Calley had feared that the civilians in the My Lai hamlet might be enemy soldiers in disguise, they gave no indication that they were armed or that they were posing an immediate threat to Calley and his men. According to McMahan (2009), the moralized notion of a combatant as anyone who poses a threat in war is different from the legal notion. In law, combatant status is accorded to persons who satisfy certain criteria, such as disguising themselves visibly at a distance by some conventional sign, carrying their arms openly, subordinating themselves to a h ierarchy of authority and command, and obeying the laws of war. Failure to satisfy such criteria can result in the forfeiture of combatant status under the law. While combatants in this legal sense are all presumed to pose a threat, not all of those who pose a threat in war are combatants in this sense. While all those who pose a threat in war are combatants in the moral sense, a major problem in war theory is that there are many people who pose a threat in war who would not be considered combatants by anyone (McMahan, 2009). In partial defense of the District Court, I would point out that we do not always require soldiers to prove that enemy soldiers pose an immediate threat before it is considered justifiable to kill them. It may be too late by the time it discovered that suspected enemy soldiers are concealing not only their identities but also their weapons. The point here is not to argue that Calley should have been relieved of responsibility, but only to indicate that even in this seemingly clear case, two courts came to different conclusions about how to regard the My Lai massacre based on how they reconstructed the threat faced by Calley and his men in Vietnam. This discussion does not call into question the normal sentiment that innocent life should be preserved. Rather, what is uncertain is the very judgment that a certain adult or even a child is to be seen as an innocent person. And yet it is this judgment, really a matter of moral perception, which is crucial to the determination of whether it was indeed an outrage for Lieutenant Calley’s unit to kill civilians in the hamlet of My Lai in Vietnam. Defenses against Killing In the US tort law, one way to make sense of whether one is liable for a given harm that he or she did not intend to cause is to ask whether one violated a duty of care owed to the person armed (May, 2005). To ascertain if one had such a duty, one looks, among other things, at what the burden would have been to the agent if he or she had conformed to the duty. If the crucial issue before us concerns the possible culpable ignorance or moral negligence of soldiers, then the tort analysis of duty and negligence becomes relevant. What makes many battlefield situations so tragic is that the cost of acting with due care toward civilians is often that the soldiers risk death to themselves. In non battlefield situations, one is hardly ever faced with imminent death if he or she exercises due care towards others in his or her life. It is for this reason that the superior orders defense shows up most commonly in the battlefield situations, and not very often off the battlefield. It may be helpful to think of conspiracy as a model of most types of shared or collective responsibility. If Susan, Smith, and Alex recruit Peter to drive a gateway car in a bank robbery scheme cooked up by Susan, then it makes sense to think of all four as collectively responsible for the resulting bank robbery. This is especially appa rent if Peter is paid well for his contribution and understands perfectly, how her contribution to this joint venture will aid in its successful completion. The driver, Peter, is a cog in a machine like enterprise that will make the robbery possible in ways that would not be true if any of the four people involved were acting on their own or in only a loosely connected manner. For this reason, they are collectively responsible for the results of their joint undertaking. Their individual responsibility will depend on the role that each plays in the joint venture. Suppose that while Peter is driving away from the scene of the crime pedestrian steps off a curb in the path of the gang’s fleeing car. Peter, generally a compassionate person begins to apply the brake, but Susan, the insensitive ring leader puts a gun to Peter’s head and urges him to drive on to avoid being court. Should Peter be held responsible for the injuries of the pedestrian as well as for the robbery? O n the assumption that one held a gun to Peter’s head to get him to join the conspiracy in the first place, Peter seems to be in a different moral position with respect to the pedestrian’s injuries than with respect to the robbery itself. Certainly, Peter appeared to have a choice of whether to join the robbery conspiracy, but not much of a choice about whether to run down the pedestrian. Was it a moral choice of Peter to ignore the order given by Susan? There are many parallel cases in international law, such as when a soldier or subordinate feels that his or her life is threatened if he or she does not follow orders. The same consideration should be operative, making us reluctant to say that in such situations, there is a moral choice available to the soldier (Kurtz Turpin, 1999). In cases of collective guilt, subtleties of context are still relevant in determining how to apportion blame to the members of the group, especially concerning legal blame and guilt (Buhk, 2012). It is, however, important to place the reasonable person standard into the specific context that the actual person was faced with. In order to do this, it is often necessary to bring in some of the beliefs of the actual person in considering what a reasonable person would have done. On the other hand, battlefield situations are so abnormal that it will often be hard to merely drop a reasonable person into a situation without taking into account how the actual person in question reacted to the situation. On several occasions, war crime tribunals have had to decide what price is too high to pay in order to expect people to reasonably exercise due care not to injure one another. In the case of Lieutenant Calley, it may be true that he and his soldiers feared for their own lives if they did not do what they thought they had been legitimately ordered to do. In Calley’s case, he never claimed that someone literally had a gun to his head, forcing him to shoot the civilians. I n the same way, his concern that the seemingly innocent civilians might be enemies in disguise was not sufficient to establish the proposition that he had no other moral choice but to follow orders, for it is important to consider what sort of threat those civilians posed. If the killings of the civilians had been clearly and unambiguously wrong, then Calley would have needed a very strong showing that he had no moral choice but to do what was clearly and unambiguously wrong. An important question that to be asked is whether a reasonable person in Calley’s situation would believe that these civilians posed a threat to his safety, and that of his troops. If so, then perhaps even moral choice was restricted in this situation. Conclusion Much philosophical discussion about political violence is taken up with argument about whether and to what extent acts of violence can be justified as a means to good ends. According to Kurtz and Turpin (1999), there are limit on what may justif iably be done in pursuit of good or worthy ends. Even though many actions can be justified by their beneficial consequences, some actions are simply wrong in themselves. Some people typically take the view that, other than in circumstances of war, the only acceptable justification for violence is that of self defense or defense of others from wrongful attack. Persons have moral rights not to be wrongfully injured or killed, and consequently, they have rights to defend themselves against wrongful physical attacks. It is also sometimes argued that to violently attack someone who is not engaged in or threatening violence is a kin to punishing an innocent person. Conversely, one who engages in wrongful violence against another may be said to have relinquished his or her normal rights to be attacked. We can only be justified in using as much violence against an attacker, however, as is required to defend ourselves. From the arguments presented in this paper, it is apparent that one of th e tests of whether an act of the defendant violates the requirement by law is if the act shocks the conscience of humanity. In most cases, there is an overlap of the law and morality indicating the relevance of moral matters to questions of whether a crime was committed wrongfully or not. It is, therefore, important for the court to exercise considerable restraint in prosecuting, convicting, and sentencing soldiers for deaths occurring during war. References Buhk, T. T. (2012). True Crime in the Civil War: Cases of Murder, Treason, Counterfeiting, Massacre, Plunder, Abuse. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. Kurtz, L.R. Turpin, J. E. (1999). Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace, and Conflict. Massachusetts: Academic Press. May, L. (2005). Crimes against Humanity: A Normative Account. New York: Cambridge University Press. McMahan, J. (2009). Killing in War. New York: Cambridge University Press. 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