Terrorism Liaison Officer's Decision Making Video Analysis

As a Terrorism Liaison Officer (TLO), I was given the Green Bay, WI city to manage and as soon as I watched the video that the analysts were watching, I was touched by the innocent lives lost during the Iraq shootings. However, I was not alone in being emotional as one of the analysts who was involved in the scene also felt guilty and confronted me after the meeting. The analyst feared that the video might be aired to the public and because she was involved, her life would have been in danger. The footage showed: On July 12th, 2007 two helicopters killed dozens of people, including children, in Iraq using 30mm cannon fire. Although some of the victims were armed, they had no evil intentions but were only using the AK47s as security because everyone was relaxed. Out of nowhere, the U.S Army commander ordered his troupe to engage, killing the innocent beings. Additionally, the unarmed men and children who came out to save the lives of the wounded were also shot and their van disabled. During this time, two Reuters news employees were killed: Saeed Chmagh, a respected driver, and assistant aged forty and Namir Noor-Eldeen, one of the best war photographers aged twenty-two.

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In disbelief, the U.S military claimed the victims died in a battle which took place between the insurgents and the U.S forces, denying engagement. They said "Coalition forces were not engaged in combat operations against the hostile forces," which contradicted the video. However, eight minutes after the engagement, ground troupes came to rescue the wounded children, with the treating soldiers offering to take them to the medical center at the nearby U.S base of Rustamiyah. Instead, the higher commander ordered that the children should be handed to the Iraqi police who would take them to an Iraqi hospital, which meant delay and poor medical treatment endangering the children's lives. Additionally, the U.S military after all these, said, "It is their fault to bring kids into a battle," which meant they never cared on the people they were engaging.

I felt for the analyst as all the blames were for the Americans. She was afraid that the video was directed to them apart from the military officers (which was not the case) and that the public would despise them. Therefore, her fears were justified, and guilt would make her self-esteem be lowered. Nevertheless, she faced ethical dilemmas, and I had to help because she confronted me for advice as a TLO and an outsider. An ethical dilemma is a situation where genuine reasons are pointing towards two different courses of action. If the video was to be aired to the public, then people opt to understand their nation and the government. She should report everything that the video depicts so that in case a question is asked; she can comfortably answer without contradiction. Moreover, in reporting about the video, she should be composed and have the courage of talking to the public, assuming that she was not involved in any scene. She should also focus on her audience (the public) and consider other scenarios, not to catch the attention of families of the deceased.

However, it is not a guarantee that in reporting about the video, people will view all aspects the same and let go of their pain. Some, if not all will never understand and never have the forgiving heart thus not confronting the dilemma of the analyst. The drawn, however, may lead to penalties that the analysts might be forced to face. For example, different people have different culture and religions which are respected by their society. If an analyst who comes from a strict society is refused to be heard and believed, then he/she might be banned from the community and rejected by his or her relatives. Also, if an analyst goes contrary to what his/her organization expects of them, to please the public or their selves, then he/she might be replaced. Nevertheless, the family and nation at large have expectations for everyone working in either an organization or for the government and in case these expectations are not met, the analysts involved might face challenges socializing further. Therefore, if the analyst was to report the event, she must have undergone training in critical ethics to help develop the reasoning abilities and the analytical skills needed to understand the theoretical and the practical aspects and would have made her consider her working environment and the public at the same time with ease.

As a Terrorism Liaison Officer, I also have a responsibility of reporting the video to my supervisors. I would explain only the relevant cases involved and the most touching scenes depicted in the video that would make my supervisors admit the U.S military had to be blamed. Also, the words the army men uttered like, "it was their fault to bring kids into a battlefield," that showed a sign of disrespect and them being heartless. An ethics code is a document that outlines the values and mission of an organization or a business, how problems are supposed to be approached by professionals, the ethical principles that the organization's core values are based on and the standards that a professional is held. Therefore, after viewing the code of ethics, I would disagree with the U.S military in denying their engagement that caused dozens of lives being lost, because all their actions were shown in the video without their knowledge. Also, by the higher commander orders, "Take the wounded kids to Iraqi police station, they will be taken to the hospital from there," showed sense inhumanity and he should be penalized. Instead, I would wish that the involved army men be replaced including their commander.

Conclusion

However, if this video is aired to the public, they would wish decisions made by any official to be based on facts they saw. Therefore, as a TLO, my decisions would be compensating for the families of the deceased, to erase the negative views they had on the organization. Additionally, I would fire the military men associated as they went opposite to what was expected of them. Unarmed adults or children must not be engaged in any way as they are innocent. In this case, I would suggest the analyst report the video only if she is confident with her ethical training skills and it would not affect her in any way. Additionally, if her reasoning abilities can understand both the government and the public, she can proceed, but if not, she should relax and consider not reporting the video for security reasons.

Reference

Collateral Murder- WikiLeaks- Iraq Retrieved from http://youtu.be/5rXPrfnU3G0