What Is The My Lai Massacre A Military Crime Of Obedience By Ian Parker
Ian Parker, author of “Obedience”, provides accurate depictions of the immediate and long-term effects of Dr. Stanley Milgram’s Experiment. In addition, he includes that under complex situations, individuals are easily induced to react through a destructive manner (Parker103). Americans commonly underestimate the influences of a situation; however, Parker thoroughly delineates the consequences behind blind obedience (Parker 104). Herbert C. Kelman and V. Lee Hamilton, authors of “The My Lai Massacre: A Military Crime of Obedience” construe the atrocity of blind obedience committed by the United States Military. In March of 1968, crimes of obedience occurred due to an elusive order commanded by a higher ranked officer (Kelman&Hamilton 131). Military …show more content…
In comparison, Lt. William Calley maintained his actions within My Lai were entirely in response to superior orders and did not endure any remorse by carrying out directed orders (Kelman& Hamilton 136-137). As to why Dawson and Downey instinctively followed an unethical command to inflict pain on Pfc. Santiago, Kelman and Hamilton convey that the structure that authority contributes to the situation effects the reactions to the explicit or implicit orders (Kelman& Hamilton 140).The Uniform Code of Military Justice, UCMJ, might refute Kelman and Hamilton by providing that military personnel must follow the lawful orders of his superior officer; in addition, it includes they have the obligation to disobey unlawful orders when in direct violation of the UCMJ ("A Duty to Disobey..."). If Dawson and Downey had the right to follow code and disobey the unlawful order of authorizing Santiago with a Code Red, then why would they follow through with the command? Ian Parker provides when there is a slight channel for disobedience, individuals tend to be more vulnerable to fascism and react in a destructive manner.
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951 Words | 4 Pagesand i did not take the time to think about who i was killing in terms of age or gender”. Calley did not speak of doing “what he was commanded to do” with any errors of judgement. he only stated how he was following orders. So in other words he thinks no wrong in his actions. In Calley’s mind he believes that him and his soldiers faced constant attack after attack by guerrilla fighters , so there was no distinction between enemies and civilians.
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629 Words | 3 PagesThe Vietnam War originated from when the North of Vietnam wanted to unify the country under a communist regime after defeating the French colonial administration of Vietnam in 1954 (“Vietnam”). This decision made by the North of Vietnam was influenced by the Soviet Union as well as China. Since the Soviet Union and China were quite dominant during the Cold War, this signifies that the Domino Effect had been successful to a certain extent. Even if the Domino Effect might have been somewhat a success there were still the nationalists who did not agree to be controlled by the communists. The United States were against the Viet Cong, who were the communists, had an impact on the war (Berman).
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1101 Words | 5 PagesFrom the beginning of the United States military involvement in Vietnam in 1955, to its withdrawal in 1973 public support for the war was strong at first, but began to slowly erode as military actions escalated. Among the soldiers fighting in the war a critical turning point in their support for the war occurred after the revealing of the My Lai massacre. The My Lai Massacre was a turning point in the soldiers’ about the war and their support for the Vietnam War. Because of its documentation and publicity the My Lai massacre among many atrocities had such an impact, that it turned the viewpoints of the soldiers who were present at the massacre, but also those who were not.
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717 Words | 3 PagesThe first scene that these quandaries come to light is where General Geoffrey D. Miller, a specialist in interrogations, was sent to Abu Ghraib to help guards extract more information from the prisoners. The guards at the facility had been trained for years to follow every order they had been given, but this would mark the first time that the United States Army’s orders had directly conflicted with their personal convictions. This fact was stated by the soldiers themselves in the the interviews conducted afterwards. This type of obedience can be explained by Erich Fromm in his article, “Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem”. Fromm states that there are two types of Obedience one that is submissive to an institution or power, and another which an affirmation of your own personal beliefs (Fromm 124).
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1049 Words | 5 PagesIn this assignment the research study to be discussed is Milgram’s study of obedience (1963). The term of obedience can be defined as a type of community impact that incorporates carrying out an activity under orders from a dominant figure. Obedience concerns changing behaviour because a dominant figure has told you to do so. After World War II, at the Nuremberg Trials, the Nazi’s defended genocide by saying they were only pursuing procedures. In 1963, Stanley Milgram set out to investigate how far people would go in obedience to orders.
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