A question about events in the book, "Lone Survivor". - The Firearms Forum

hkruss · 11-25-2009, 01:56 PM

First, let me say, if you have not read the book yet and don't want to know what happened, then skip this thread!

Now the question.

In the book, Marcus Luttrell and his SEAL team capture two afghan goat herders while on a mission in Taliban country. The herders stumbled upon their position, so the SEALs had no choice but to hold them. The SEALs faced a choice. Knowing that they could not afford to keep prisoners on their mission, they must decide what to do with the herders. Two choices. Kill them or let them go.
The quandary was, if they let them go, their was a good chance the herders would tell the Taliban of their position and compromise the mission. If they killed them, the SEALs feared repercussions from the media, and more importantly, the liberal politicians back home. They feared they would be imprisoned for murder once word reached the politicians of what they did.
In the end, they voted to let the herders go, and sure enough, they were reported to the Taliban and a battle ensued from which only Luttrell survived.

The question is, what would YOU have done in their place?

With the luxury of hindsight, I think it would have been best to kill the herders. While that is very harsh to say, considering the SEALs were in enemy territory, it was almost certain the herders would sympathize with the Taliban and report the position of the SEALs. As I recall, the herders did not try to act friendly to the SEALs, but rather hostile, glaring at them.
Point is, if they had killed them, there was a good chance all would have survived. At least they would have been alive to face trial.

No easy answer here.

.

hkruss · 11-25-2009, 05:24 PM

I guess no one has read the book yet.

Anybody?

11-25-2009, 01:56 PM	#1
hkruss Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Mobile, Al. Posts: 1,092	A question about events in the book, "Lone Survivor". First, let me say, if you have not read the book yet and don't want to know what happened, then skip this thread! Now the question. In the book, Marcus Luttrell and his SEAL team capture two afghan goat herders while on a mission in Taliban country. The herders stumbled upon their position, so the SEALs had no choice but to hold them. The SEALs faced a choice. Knowing that they could not afford to keep prisoners on their mission, they must decide what to do with the herders. Two choices. Kill them or let them go. The quandary was, if they let them go, their was a good chance the herders would tell the Taliban of their position and compromise the mission. If they killed them, the SEALs feared repercussions from the media, and more importantly, the liberal politicians back home. They feared they would be imprisoned for murder once word reached the politicians of what they did. In the end, they voted to let the herders go, and sure enough, they were reported to the Taliban and a battle ensued from which only Luttrell survived. The question is, what would YOU have done in their place? With the luxury of hindsight, I think it would have been best to kill the herders. While that is very harsh to say, considering the SEALs were in enemy territory, it was almost certain the herders would sympathize with the Taliban and report the position of the SEALs. As I recall, the herders did not try to act friendly to the SEALs, but rather hostile, glaring at them. Point is, if they had killed them, there was a good chance all would have survived. At least they would have been alive to face trial. No easy answer here. . __________________ obama - "non gratum anus rodentum" --> Last edited by hkruss; 11-25-2009 at 05:26 PM..

11-25-2009, 05:24 PM	#2
hkruss Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Mobile, Al. Posts: 1,092	Re: A question about events in the book, "Lone Survivor". I guess no one has read the book yet. Anybody? __________________ obama - "non gratum anus rodentum"