Vice Admiral William McRaven - the commander of Joint Special Operations Command - showed up with two sheep, and in the cultural understanding of the region, surrendered himself.  [Full Article]

“I am the commander of the soldiers who accidentally killed your loved ones, I came here today to send my condolences to you and to your family and to your friends, I also came today to ask your forgiveness for these terrible tragedies.”

Addressing the father: “Sir, you and I are very different. You are a family man with many children and many friends. I am a soldier. I have spent most of my career overseas away from my family, but I have children as well and my heart grieves for you. But we have one thing in common, one very important thing, We have the same god. He is a god who shows great love and compassion. I pray for you today, sir, that in your grief he will show you love and compassion and ease your pain. … I also pray today that he will show mercy on me and my men for this awful tragedy.”

Presenting sheep is such a powerful form of requesting forgiveness that the father is now obligated not to take revenge, even though he has told reporters he wanted to become a suicide bomber. “We were very happy he came to our house,” said Mohammad Tahir, the brother of the two men and father of the 18-year-old woman who was killed, referring to McRaven. “We told him, ‘Thank you very much. We will not keep anything in our heart against you.’”