BobD
05-07-2005, 06:49 AM
This is a must read, and a must comprehend. :up:
Captured Terrorists vs Prisoners of War
http://www.therant.us/images/captured_terrorists_vs_pris.jpg
War on Terror/Lee Ellis
May 6, 2005 - In reading Letters to the Editor in many newspapers, I find that there are many people who are trying to compare the terrorist war with WWII and want us to treat the captured terrorists the same way we treated German POWs in the 40s.
As a WWII combat veteran, I can state that with all previous wars, we had national, uniformed nations fighting each other. Even with bombings, civilians had sufficient warnings so that they could escape to bomb shelters whether in London or Berlin. Prisoners of war were treated with the Geneva accords in mind.
Today none of this "gentlemen's war" exists. The enemy wears civilian clothes and lives amongst us. They plot to kill or maim, without any warning, innocent children, women and men here in the USA. They will explode these bombs, as they have already done in Israel and Iraq (and don’t forget 9/11), while civilians are shopping, working, in schools, seeking entertainment or even attending a funeral of a loved one. The terrorists are also hoping to detonate a radioactive bomb which may kill millions of people and make an area of the USA uninhabitable for hundreds of thousands of years!
Let us assume that a captured terrorist can tell us where a radioactive bomb is hidden in one of our cities before it can explode, killing every person in that area, making it unlivable for the next century. Should we only ask the captured terrorist where this bomb might be hidden? Should we adhere to the outdated Geneva accords because we insist that we must be better than the terrorists? Or should we do whatever is necessary to save the lives of the hundreds of thousands of innocents who make their homes here?
Are we really better than the enemy if we put the life of one terrorist above the safety of thousands of our citizens just so we can feel righteous because we do not threaten, cajole or even torture an attacker to keep a mushroom cloud from shrouding and enveloping one of our cities?
I, too, would like to live with the gentility of the 30s and 40s as practiced then by most of society. Not only did we treat POWs with dignity, but we also, as a society, left our windows open, our front doors unlocked, our ignition keys in our cars out front and did not worry when our kids did not show up all day because they had gone fishing or hiking or were out bicycling. We knew they would be home safely in time for dinner.
Sorry, this world no longer exists. We all now lock everything, install alarm systems and call the police if a child is missing for more than an hour. We have learned the hard way that our society has deteriorated.
The same is true of war. We are at the mercy of terrorists. We are no longer engaged in a war with an individual nation with a legitimate army. When the terrorists capture one of our civilians, they honor the Geneva accords by beheading the man or woman on world TV! Our Wahabi enemies have a fanatic religious belief system. They respect only strength; they look at kindness or appeasement as a sign of weakness. If we capture a terrorist, and we do not obtain information that will save us from suicide or nuclear bombers, we will no longer be alive and many of our USA cities will be gray nuclear ash heaps. It is deadly to not know the mental outlook of our attackers; it is also deadly to live in the past.
Captured Terrorists vs Prisoners of War
http://www.therant.us/images/captured_terrorists_vs_pris.jpg
War on Terror/Lee Ellis
May 6, 2005 - In reading Letters to the Editor in many newspapers, I find that there are many people who are trying to compare the terrorist war with WWII and want us to treat the captured terrorists the same way we treated German POWs in the 40s.
As a WWII combat veteran, I can state that with all previous wars, we had national, uniformed nations fighting each other. Even with bombings, civilians had sufficient warnings so that they could escape to bomb shelters whether in London or Berlin. Prisoners of war were treated with the Geneva accords in mind.
Today none of this "gentlemen's war" exists. The enemy wears civilian clothes and lives amongst us. They plot to kill or maim, without any warning, innocent children, women and men here in the USA. They will explode these bombs, as they have already done in Israel and Iraq (and don’t forget 9/11), while civilians are shopping, working, in schools, seeking entertainment or even attending a funeral of a loved one. The terrorists are also hoping to detonate a radioactive bomb which may kill millions of people and make an area of the USA uninhabitable for hundreds of thousands of years!
Let us assume that a captured terrorist can tell us where a radioactive bomb is hidden in one of our cities before it can explode, killing every person in that area, making it unlivable for the next century. Should we only ask the captured terrorist where this bomb might be hidden? Should we adhere to the outdated Geneva accords because we insist that we must be better than the terrorists? Or should we do whatever is necessary to save the lives of the hundreds of thousands of innocents who make their homes here?
Are we really better than the enemy if we put the life of one terrorist above the safety of thousands of our citizens just so we can feel righteous because we do not threaten, cajole or even torture an attacker to keep a mushroom cloud from shrouding and enveloping one of our cities?
I, too, would like to live with the gentility of the 30s and 40s as practiced then by most of society. Not only did we treat POWs with dignity, but we also, as a society, left our windows open, our front doors unlocked, our ignition keys in our cars out front and did not worry when our kids did not show up all day because they had gone fishing or hiking or were out bicycling. We knew they would be home safely in time for dinner.
Sorry, this world no longer exists. We all now lock everything, install alarm systems and call the police if a child is missing for more than an hour. We have learned the hard way that our society has deteriorated.
The same is true of war. We are at the mercy of terrorists. We are no longer engaged in a war with an individual nation with a legitimate army. When the terrorists capture one of our civilians, they honor the Geneva accords by beheading the man or woman on world TV! Our Wahabi enemies have a fanatic religious belief system. They respect only strength; they look at kindness or appeasement as a sign of weakness. If we capture a terrorist, and we do not obtain information that will save us from suicide or nuclear bombers, we will no longer be alive and many of our USA cities will be gray nuclear ash heaps. It is deadly to not know the mental outlook of our attackers; it is also deadly to live in the past.