My Lai Massacre Discussion Questions

1. Should we apply legal rules to incidents arising out of warfare? What is the purpose of
developing and applying such rules? Have such rules changed the nature of warfare, or
prevented more or worse wartime atrocities from occurring?
2. What should the rules of warfare be with respect to treatment of civilians? Who should be
considered a civilian (or a non-combatant)? Should there be special rules governing the
treatment of women or children?
3. What is the defense of superior orders? Why have such a defense? When should the defense
be available? Should different standards apply to privates than to persons higher up the chain of
command? What should a soldier do when he is given an order that he thinks is unlawful?
4. How do you explain what happened at My Lai? What can be done to prevent such tragedies
from happening again? What does My Lai teach us about the nature of evil? Was Calley evil, or
was he a more-or-less normal person in abnormal circumstances? Would Calley have acted
differently had he received more training in the rules of warfare?
5. If Calley had been ordered to waste civilians, was he obligated to disobey such an order
because it was clearly illegal?
6. Which was worsethe massacre or the cover-up?
7. Were there any heroes at My Lai? What makes a hero able to act heroically? How can we
make more people likely to act heroically?
8. How much influence did politics and politicians have on the outcomes? Should we try harder
to insulate courts martial from political influence?
9. What is the lasting significance of My Lai? Did it substantially change public attitudes toward
the Viet Nam War? Has it changed how we prepare our soldiers for war?
10. What comparisons can you draw between My Lai and the prisoner torture and abuse scandal
at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq? What are some of the key differences? Who was most responsible
for what happened at Abu Ghraib? Does Abu Graib, as well as incidents involving the rape and
killing of civilians in Iraq, suggest that we haven't learned well the lessons of My Lai? What
needs to be done to prevent these gross affronts to human dignity during the stress of war? (For
information from Wikipedia on the Abu Graib scandal, click Abu Graib Torture.)