05-05-2004, 08:10 PM
Hi,
Americans dropping buker busters on military targets intend just that: to destroy the military target and keep civilian casualties at an absolute minimum.
While in WW II, massive firebombing of civilian regions was considered a valid military tactic to cause the bombed country to lose the "will to fight". The fact that that never worked didn't deter anyone on either side. Now that policy would be considered "barbaric".
War has always had some rules (or at least has throughout recorded times) and has always had some rule breakers.
Little known facts: the reason the Vatican is guarded by Swiss Guards is that the Swiss were such good mercenaries that the use of them was restricted to the Pope. The crossbow was banned as a weapon of warfare because it was too cruel (read, a commoner with a crossbow could kill a noble in armor -- mustn't have that). All the countries that participated as judges at the Nuremberg Trials had anti-semitic laws in place at one time or another of their history.
And so forth and so on.
In the American military, the need to obey orders is tempered by the individual responsibility placed on each soldier. The circumstances, the order, etc. all enter into the question. An American soldier cannot just take refuge in "I was just following orders". Which is fair enough, since we didn't accept that excuse from Nazis accused of crimes.
The problem with the twenty second clip and the ten second sound bite is that they fail to consider the complete story.
And, yes, paradoxical as it might seem, it is permissible to go after wounded in battle, but not if they are in an ambulance, medivac, or hospital. Many reasons, not the least is the ability of a wounded person to fight on. Look for a list of Medal of Honor recipients, and see how often phrases like "in spite of being wounded twice in the legs and once in the chest, sergeant Unstoppable continued to engage the enemy, allowing his squad to escape with no further injuries." And, while you're at it, take a look at how many of those medals were awarded posthumously.
War is not nice. It is not meant to be nice. Which is why a country should have a good and considerable reason to go to war, and that only when all other steps have been exhausted. Only one ignorant of war and with the lack of imagination to know what evil war causes would advocate its use for trivial reasons, or use a lie to justify it.
--Pete
Americans dropping buker busters on military targets intend just that: to destroy the military target and keep civilian casualties at an absolute minimum.
While in WW II, massive firebombing of civilian regions was considered a valid military tactic to cause the bombed country to lose the "will to fight". The fact that that never worked didn't deter anyone on either side. Now that policy would be considered "barbaric".
War has always had some rules (or at least has throughout recorded times) and has always had some rule breakers.
Little known facts: the reason the Vatican is guarded by Swiss Guards is that the Swiss were such good mercenaries that the use of them was restricted to the Pope. The crossbow was banned as a weapon of warfare because it was too cruel (read, a commoner with a crossbow could kill a noble in armor -- mustn't have that). All the countries that participated as judges at the Nuremberg Trials had anti-semitic laws in place at one time or another of their history.
And so forth and so on.
In the American military, the need to obey orders is tempered by the individual responsibility placed on each soldier. The circumstances, the order, etc. all enter into the question. An American soldier cannot just take refuge in "I was just following orders". Which is fair enough, since we didn't accept that excuse from Nazis accused of crimes.
The problem with the twenty second clip and the ten second sound bite is that they fail to consider the complete story.
And, yes, paradoxical as it might seem, it is permissible to go after wounded in battle, but not if they are in an ambulance, medivac, or hospital. Many reasons, not the least is the ability of a wounded person to fight on. Look for a list of Medal of Honor recipients, and see how often phrases like "in spite of being wounded twice in the legs and once in the chest, sergeant Unstoppable continued to engage the enemy, allowing his squad to escape with no further injuries." And, while you're at it, take a look at how many of those medals were awarded posthumously.
War is not nice. It is not meant to be nice. Which is why a country should have a good and considerable reason to go to war, and that only when all other steps have been exhausted. Only one ignorant of war and with the lack of imagination to know what evil war causes would advocate its use for trivial reasons, or use a lie to justify it.
--Pete
How big was the aquarium in Noah's ark?