Chapter four focuses on the victims’ nature and the soldier’s ability to kill. Soldiers can only kill when they have when there is sufficient pay off and relevance of the mission to kill. The author writes about the Shalit factors that determine a soldier’s ability to kill. They include the motive, means and opportunity. Soldiers determine the attractiveness of killing their target using three main factors. They include; payoff to kill, relevance of killing the victim and the relevance of the available strategies.
The strategy employed by the soldier should be one that guarantees less risk. The soldier needs to be convinced that he will use the strategy to kill his target without risking death himself. Therefore, the tactics used must be strong and effective. The soldier must know the relevance of killing the target in order to take the mission seriously. There must be a way of linking the victim to soldiers to make soldiers feel the importance of killing their target.
Finally, the author writes about the payoff of killing. There must be a gain for the soldier in killing their target. In most cases, the payoff is alternate; the soldier gains and the enemy losses or vice versa. In such a case, the soldier will surely do all within their means to kill their target.
Chapter four gives the author’s view on the relevance of killing and the payoff. Soldiers perform well when they have the means, opportunity and motive to kill. Their attractiveness to kill a victim depends on the payoff, relevance of killing the victim and the available resources.
Works Cited
Grossman, Dave. On Killing. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 1996.
