tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10694316.post621385763089282021..comments2024-03-27T20:10:46.984-07:00Comments on The Rambling Taoist: Anything But CowardsThe Rambling Taoisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04730292897416827840noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10694316.post-67958835916798367562007-04-26T18:08:00.000-07:002007-04-26T18:08:00.000-07:00Yes I would agree with 'misguided bravery'. It is...Yes I would agree with 'misguided bravery'. It is strange that while everybody equates suicide bombers with cowardness and fanatical, the same terms are not used when referring to kamikaze pilots in WW2, or allied troops that voluntered to be first out of the trenches.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10694316.post-38981272917524189182007-04-26T13:44:00.000-07:002007-04-26T13:44:00.000-07:00Many, many years ago I attempted to enter into a c...Many, many years ago I attempted to enter into a career in the military and as part of the induction process I attended a week long program at Fort Gagetown (the Canadian Forces army training centre.) One of the things that was pointed out to us was that an officer often has to send people to their deaths. This is not negotiable and many times it is with the full knowledge of both officer and men. <BR/><BR/>Another thing people might think about is that during WWII the first suicide attackers in airplanes were American, not Japanese. During the battle of Midway a squadron of dive bombers flew on after they had passed the "halfway mark" on their fuel. This meant that they would not have enough petrol to make it back to their carrier and would end up crashing in the sea. <BR/><BR/>As luck would have it, this group of bombers were able to sink several Japanese carriers because of another suicide attack by torpedo bombers. Those men attacked without fighter escort and were slaughtered by the Japanese zeros. But this meant that the Japanese fighter cover was chasing torpedo planes when the dive bombers appeared, which let them attack the carriers and sink them. <BR/><BR/>Non-military people have a naive view of what wars are like and what it means to be a fighter. In a situation where one side has high-tech weaponry and huge resources, the only option that an organization may have is the willingness of an individual to die for the cause. <BR/><BR/>I don't offer this comment because I support Alcaida. But as General Sun said all those hundreds of years ago, a leader who understands both himself and his enemy can fight a hundred battles and never lose. I suspect that the leadership of the American army understands neither itself nor its enemy. In such a situation failure is almost assured.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com