Spoiler Warning
The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have both been highly controversial, and almost universally condemned by Hollywood, despite a few films that have painted U.S. and allied troops in a positive light. Peter Berg’s Lone Survivor falls into the latter category, painting a gut-wrenchingly accurate picture of the conflict and highlighting the moral issues that all Western countries face when dealing with terrorism.
Lone Survivor tells the true story of Marcus Luttrell (Mark Wahlberg), a former U.S. Navy SEAL who was the only survivor of Operation Red Wings, an ultimately unsuccessful effort to take out Ahmad Shah, a high-level al-Qaeda operative in Afghanistan. Luttrell and his team were camped out in the Afghan hills preparing for the mission when local villagers accidentally stumbled upon them.
As the film depicts, the team ties the three villagers to the trees – two children and one elderly man. And a pivotal argument then ensues – if they kill the civilians, they are breaking their own code of ethics, but if they release them, their lives are in danger because the civilians could inform Taliban insurgents of their location. The team ends up choosing to release the villagers – who promptly run away and alert the Taliban.
When Luttrell and his team awake the next morning, dozens of Taliban fighters across the mountain are preparing to attack the SEALs. The action that erupts as these two sides engage is not for the viewer who is faint of heart, and is incredibly intense. The battle leaves Luttrell alone and almost dead, and now a local villager plays a different role, discovering the gravely injured SEAL and taking him into this home to dress his wounds. In the face of criticism from his fellow villagers, Mohammad Gulab defends his houseguest, and the village uncomfortably tolerates Luttrell’s presence.
But the Taliban finds out, storms the village and attacks the residents. Luttrell is taken to a tree stump where the Taliban insurgents prepare to publicly behead him – but Gulab and the villagers fight back, opening fire and demanding the Taliban leave the village. Not wanting to cause more of an uproar with locals, the Taliban members depart – and Luttrell is eventually rescued by the U.S. military. Luttrell’s relationship with Gulab is especially poignant because it illustrates how difficult, nuanced and messy these wars involving terrorists can be. Gulab, like many Afghanis, hates the Taliban’s oppression (even if he doesn’t like the United States).
The film does not shy away from this reality that identifying the “bad guy” can be a significant challenge. And yet – in conflicts like the war in Afghanistan (and, similarly, the battles Israel often finds itself fighting), western nations often struggle with a profound and constant tension between what is right and what is necessary to protect innocent civilians. On the other side of the conflict, where terrorist organizations are notorious for using children as human shields, training children as guerilla fighters (or even suicide bombers), or using them to obtain information – the struggle with ethical issues seems non-existent.
Peter Berg communicates this reality beautifully in the film, much to the chagrin of leftists who are decrying the movie’s portrayal of “bad guys.” A great film for post-movie discussion, Lone Survivor leaves many questions unanswered. Should Luttrell’s team have killed the civilians? Would it have saved the 19 American lives that were eventually lost due to the decision? Would the Taliban would have discovered them anyway? Could it ever be justified to kill children who are being used by terrorist organizations? Are they to be considered combatants? And of course the broader questions: Is it right to participate in a war to protect foreign citizens from an oppressive regime? Are Western and American interests being served in the Muslim world?
No matter how you answer these difficult questions, the fact that we – and the film – are asking them is in fact a testament to the morality that undergirds Western civilisation and therefore our military forces. Lone Survivor demonstrates the clear distinction between those who would fight for human liberty – and those who fight against it.
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