Anachronism
Rookie
- Banned
- #21
BL is now a martyr.
Better that he's a dead martyr to the cause than a live insurgent working to further that cause, Grace.
A wise American once said.... "The point of war isn't to die for one's cause; but rather to make the other guys die for theirs."
That's why I all for a "No Prisoners" mentality when it comes to fighting these types of wars. If someone picks up a weapon and appears to have the intent to use it against an American soldier, they need to die. Regardless of age, gender, social rank, religion, etc...
There's a very telling scene towards the end of the movie "Black Hawk Down" as the US soldiers are moving towards the Green Zone. A Somali man is shot dead by the soldiers and immediately a woman (presumably his wife, mother, etc...) starts to reach for the AK-47 that he's dropped. One of the soldiers starts screaming at her "Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't do it." The moment she places her hands on the rifle one of the soldiers shoots her dead as well. Regardless of the fact that her motivation was anger and grief, the moment she becomes a threat, she has to die. That ought to be a small lesson to all of us on how WARS need to be fought.
I learned that philosophical lesson from a US Army combat veteran.... my father. He learned that lesson first hand in Vietnam. I won't go into the stories of how he learned the lesson, but suffice it to say he learned that the Enemy comes in all shapes, sizes, ages, and genders during his time overseas.