Ethical Lens Of Deontology Essay
In the 2009 Afghanistan surge, the “bargaining paradigm”, defined by Allen , best reflects President Obama’s decision making process by which he used the ethical lens of “deontology”, discussed by Shaw , as the moral compass of his decisions.
The war in Afghanistan started after the September 11th, 2001 attacks in the United States while President Bush was in office. President Obama was inaugurated as president on January 20th, 2009 and he picked up in the middle of a long war in Iraq and Afghanistan. After taking office, General Stanley McChrystal was selected to command NATO operations in Afghanistan. McChrystal submits a detailed report, to then Defense Secretary Robert Gates, calling for a surge of 30,000 – 40,000 troops in Afghanistan. The general’s assessment reflects the “Polis Model” in that he writes “success demands a comprehensive counterinsurgency (COIN) campaign” and further writes “failure to gain the initiative”, “risks an outcome where defeating the insurgency is no longer possible”. This assessment gives the portrayal that increasing the troop count in Afghanistan is the only feasible option and that any other method would result in failure. To make matters worse, McChrystal’s 66 page assessment …show more content…
Shaw says that this ethical lens is “doing the right thing is always the right thing to do.” President Obama made the point to clarify the “interests” at hand with his senior leaders, but more importantly he wanted to focus the group on three specific key goals. Those goals were “one, protecting the U.S. homeland, allies and U.S. interests abroad”, “two, Pakistan’s nuclear weapons and stability” and “third, Pakistan-India relations”. The president’s objective throughout the decision making process was to do the right thing as the leader of the free world and thus supporting deontology as the ethical lens he
The war in Afghanistan started after the September 11th, 2001 attacks in the United States while President Bush was in office. President Obama was inaugurated as president on January 20th, 2009 and he picked up in the middle of a long war in Iraq and Afghanistan. After taking office, General Stanley McChrystal was selected to command NATO operations in Afghanistan. McChrystal submits a detailed report, to then Defense Secretary Robert Gates, calling for a surge of 30,000 – 40,000 troops in Afghanistan. The general’s assessment reflects the “Polis Model” in that he writes “success demands a comprehensive counterinsurgency (COIN) campaign” and further writes “failure to gain the initiative”, “risks an outcome where defeating the insurgency is no longer possible”. This assessment gives the portrayal that increasing the troop count in Afghanistan is the only feasible option and that any other method would result in failure. To make matters worse, McChrystal’s 66 page assessment …show more content…
Shaw says that this ethical lens is “doing the right thing is always the right thing to do.” President Obama made the point to clarify the “interests” at hand with his senior leaders, but more importantly he wanted to focus the group on three specific key goals. Those goals were “one, protecting the U.S. homeland, allies and U.S. interests abroad”, “two, Pakistan’s nuclear weapons and stability” and “third, Pakistan-India relations”. The president’s objective throughout the decision making process was to do the right thing as the leader of the free world and thus supporting deontology as the ethical lens he