My class was in a discussion about tactics of warfare, the teacher offering hypothtical situations while the class tried to think of ways to solve them.
The teacher said "You are the main commander in the depth of a war, your lessers give you information leading to the knowledge that the enemy is about to try a suprise attack on a military base, but will be exposing themselves to a counter attack as a result. Stopping their attack would allow them to defend themselves against a counter attack. What do you do?"
It seemed obvious, so the class hesitated for a while, thinking it out completley, but before any of them could answer, I said "I would allow the attack to occur, then, deliver the counterattack with all available force, and become a war hero."
"Very unusual tactics, but most certainly succesfull." He said, writing some on his PDA, then giving the next situation.
"Later, in the same war, your popularity has declined, you are considered by most to be overbearing and taking unneccisary steps for protection, when you learn of another attack by the enemy, this time on a totally undefended civillian target. Yet again, the enemy will be leaving themselves open to counterattack, if anything, worse than the damage they would inflict. What do you do for this one?"
Without hesitating for fear I might best the class again, one student suggested "Secretley build up defenses around the target, and stop the attack from happening."
The teacher looked at the student and said "Moderatley effective, mister Davidson. You stop the attack from happening, and while military officials know of what you did, the public at large sees you only defending civillian targets, rather than stopping the enemy, and your popularity declines further."
I jumped in, and said "Once again, I allow the atack to occur, and take brutal revenge upon the enemy."
He paused a moment, then said "A very unusual, but not incorrect answer, mister Jones. The attack takes thousands of inocent civillian lives, yet in the counterattack, you become both a hero with the military, and with the public for giving just revenge to the enemy, and your popularity soars."
The other student spluttered. "S-Sir! How can that be the correct answer? You said yourself, thousands of innocent lives were lost!"
The teacher looked over, and slowly said "There is no correct or incorrect answer, mister Davidson. This is a discussion of different tactics, not ethics. While you would save lives, and be an unknown savior, Mister Jones would allow an atrocity such as this to occur, yet deliver an equally devastating counterattack, and become a hero in the eyes of all."
And so the class continued...