People of Dreseden Defend their City Against Neo-Nazis

CaptainHaplo · 02-14-10, 12:52 PM

OTH - now you know we rarely agree - but I will say this - your dead on when you say that modern "infotainment" about history tends to deal with the "shinier" parts of war (as if there really was such a thing).

It concentrates on the victories, on the demonization of the foe (whether the foe at the time, or a politicaly expedient current one) as well as glosses over the horror and true cost of a real war.

Now part of that is because there is no entertainment value in being brutally honest and depicting war in its totality. The other part of that is the current climate of "political correctness" which states that the deaths of civilians or other non-combatants (like WW2 merchant crews who, while not military, were crucial to the war prosecution on both sides), is an evil under all circumstances. While this is a noble position to take, the reality is that you cannot fight a true war and do so in a politically correct manner. Skybird states as much above, and in that he is right. The prosecution of war done correctly does not and cannot be "moderated", due to the capability of a non-symmetrical force to blend into the civilian population.

If your not fighting to win, you will lose.

However, and this is the biggest problem, its important to remember that it is not the military that STARTS wars - it is POLITICIANS. Unfortunately, Pindar was correct when he stated that "War is sweet to those who have no experience of it."

02-14-10, 12:52 PM	#37
CaptainHaplo Silent Hunter Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 4,404 Downloads: 29 Uploads: 0	OTH - now you know we rarely agree - but I will say this - your dead on when you say that modern "infotainment" about history tends to deal with the "shinier" parts of war (as if there really was such a thing). It concentrates on the victories, on the demonization of the foe (whether the foe at the time, or a politicaly expedient current one) as well as glosses over the horror and true cost of a real war. Now part of that is because there is no entertainment value in being brutally honest and depicting war in its totality. The other part of that is the current climate of "political correctness" which states that the deaths of civilians or other non-combatants (like WW2 merchant crews who, while not military, were crucial to the war prosecution on both sides), is an evil under all circumstances. While this is a noble position to take, the reality is that you cannot fight a true war and do so in a politically correct manner. Skybird states as much above, and in that he is right. The prosecution of war done correctly does not and cannot be "moderated", due to the capability of a non-symmetrical force to blend into the civilian population. If your not fighting to win, you will lose. However, and this is the biggest problem, its important to remember that it is not the military that STARTS wars - it is POLITICIANS. Unfortunately, Pindar was correct when he stated that "War is sweet to those who have no experience of it." __________________ Good Hunting! Captain Haplo