Posts by william henderson 1

flying ....

..planes full of innocent people into buildings full of innocent people can not be justified by any kind of belief system except that held by the delusioned.

no amount of psychobabble can justify NOT persuing the perpetrators of such act, or their supporters and sponsers.

again, yet more innocent people will die in this conflict, but far fewer than if we allow the likes of bin-laden to reign supreme.

re:

"it was in response to William Hendersons comment, who trivialized my concern about the capacity of you to being aware of the limitations with promoting acts of warfare."

in no way did i attempt to trivialise any one's opinion on warfare, it's effects or their capacity for comprehension.

the a-bombing of hiroshima and nagasaki need to be viewed with regards to the prospect of having to invade the japanese mainland to secure victory and, therefor, peace and the massive casualties that were expected to result.

the american experience on okinawa and iwo jima fortold a massive loss to the allied forces, american military leaders predicted up to 3/4 million american dead and 1/2 million+ dead from other nations.

japans casualties went off the scale.

the main island was not scheduled to be invaded untill 1954.

such projections, we have no grounds to doubt given prior experiences, were not unrealistic.

therefor, the a-bombings, hideous though they were, probably saved counless lives on BOTH sides.

there are many allive today who can partly thank the use of the a-bombes for just that.

their fathers survived the war to raise families, i count my self amongst them.

re; Warmongering and the notion of ill formed righteous

so, what is par re: the Apache?

"Claiming that so called militia go around shooting other Iraqis basically on random..etc..."

i think its the insurgents doing that.

"Willingly firing on unarmed, unknown and non-uniformed photographers surely a crime..."

can you be sure they were not propaganda troops for the "BAAAAD" guys?

heh, just jokin.....

"Afaik, nobody picked up any weapons when the van stopped and they were trying to move the wounded man"

were those people marked in accordance with the Geneva convention? no.

"To argue that a child is used as a shield, would either imply that the child would act as a stopping force for ammunition, or that soldiers would be discouraged to fire on, or in the general vicinity of a child."

that is the general principal, i believe.

the germans used the human shield in the 1914-18 war when they attacked Belgium.

the town of saumagne was the first noted instance, i believe.

no one has ever criticized the British troops who, despite the human shield, opened fire and stopped the first attack.

why waste money on star wars when all you need is a few dozen peasants?

as for the a bomb(s)... are you aware that America was loosing 2000+ soldiers lives every week fighting the japs and therefor dropping the bomb(s) may have saved tens of thousands of American lives bringing the war to an early end.

shit, it might even be the reason you are here!!

@silver fox

"Ah, someone else who thought to mention the Geneva Conventions without bothering to look it up first.

(http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?151120-Combatants-not-in-uniform-Geneva-convention)

To qualify for POW status uniform is not mandatory as long as the combatants or militias carry arms openly;

***The United States has not signed the part of the Geneva Conventions that covers militias and resistance movements***"

that accepted:-

http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/385ec082b509e76c41256739003e636d/6756482d86146898c125641e004aa3c5

"Persons protected by the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field of 12 August 1949, or by the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea of 12 August 1949, or by the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War of 12 August 1949, shall not be considered as protected persons within the meaning of the present Convention.

Art. 5 Where in the territory of a Party to the conflict, the latter is satisfied that an individual protected person is definitely suspected of or engaged in activities hostile to the security of the State, such individual person shall not be entitled to claim such rights and privileges under the present Convention as would, if exercised in the favour of such individual person, be prejudicial to the security of such State".

so the chopper squad may have been perfectly entitled to open fire, as long as they were acting under the auspices of the Iraqi government, which i feel sure they were.

problem...

as the taliban/ insurgents do not ware uniforms, how does one descern them from "civilians"?

because under international law thats what they are!

the fact that the taliban/insurgents do not form part of a recognised national army, they may be killed where ever they are found, if armed.

remember; resistance is not only futile, its illegal.

(seeing this footage on a rock steady 19" monitor in controlled lighting probably results in a slightly clearer image that that available on the apache's helmet mounted display or 6" cockpit displays.

so, im not surprised that people here can see something the chopper driver didnt or couldnt).

as a squady once said to me (sorta); if it looks like a gun, it is a gun. if its pointing at me or my mates, i'll shoot first.

its a sad fact that the taliban's actions have inevitably rendered the remainder of the civilian poulation more vulnerable.

re; stratman/ john186; it doesnt stop them hiding amongst OTHER civilians does it, in their own country or not?

re:silver fox: dresden was bombed because it would burn nicely and had a railway station, a crime now, it seemed right at the time, im sure.

its worth remembering that merely following orders does not excuse the conduct of the individual. the nuremberg trials firmly established that.

as for dispensing justice, never happen. one crime begets another.

ok, fire away :)

dumped....

google, eat apples.