If a Muslim terrorist detonated a bomb that killed thousands of people
- Thread starter HighStickHarry
- Start date
Not sure how practical this is, but instead of killing thousands of innocent people in response to the actions of one idiot, maybe use intelligence/special forces to terrorize the terrorist, everyone he loves, his religious leaders, etc. Then maybe prevention starts happening through the people that have the most influence over these morons.
And what happened to "turn the other cheek"? (Blue for sarcasm, but an almost real question)
Back to the serious side of the original question:
a) if it's a "lone wolf" suicide bomber inspired by ISIS (substitute Muslim Brotherhood, al-Qaida, etc.) propaganda, there's no strategic EFFECTIVE response. "Should be" doesn't realistically exist. No legitimate reason for the World Police to punish random countries.
b) if it's ISIS-led and ISIS-planned tactical strike by ISIS high-level operatives, we should know and have fracked their movements. Even if we were a day late and a dollar short about actually getting serious with them while they were stateside, we should know the right location and people group to go light up with some drones.
c) no country is stupid enough to strike the homeland directly. But if they did- molten glass sounds about right.
P.S. When we talk about torture, going after their families, etc.... we're no better than those animals.
So molten glass sounds good but torture is no better than them? That makes absolutely zero sense but I'm not looking for an argument, so I'll just concede...basically just proof we can't win against these animals.
Fair point. My molten glass comment was specifically targeted to the scenario where a country essentially formally declares war by attacking the US. I'm not sure where the line between terrorism and an act of war is drawn, but I was equivocating the hypothetical Muslim terrorist attack to the attack on Pearl Harbor to drag us into WWII. Japan formally declared war on the US, and we responded in kind- with a hefty multiplier.
Torturing individual Japanese soldiers wouldn't have produced results. It was only through heavy bombing (not just the atomic bombs) and military pressure, that they surrendered.
My dad fought in the Philippines. We did not torture the Japanese, we just shot them, even as POW's. Big little secret no one talks about. Why? Because our soldiers saw the Kamikaze pilots die willingly, and they were taught to kill themselves or kill their captors, once captured they were the same as the Kamikaze pilots, they were told if they were returned as prisoners after the war they would be shot. Their was Japanese soldiers found in the Phillipines like 30 years later hiding out because they did not want to return to Japan because they thought they would be shot.
So, at night when it was your turn to guard the prisoners you open the gate and waited for them to run, yell anything and from instinct prisoners turn head, then shoot them between eyes. Next morning you tell the MP they tried to escape.
War in Philippines was horrible, US cut off shipping lanes and Japanese soldiers were starving and resorted to eating US soldiers alive to survive. My dad was old enough to be my Grand Pa and when I was really in trouble he would say "I will hang you by your ears". Well, that is how the Japanese ate American soldiers, hung them by their ears alive and ate them.
My dad was in the jungle and came across a few soldiers eating an American hung up, my dad killed them, turned out that American was my dad's best friend, he was carved up bad, he begged my dad to shoot him and he did.
My dad came back with some serious post traumatic stress syndrome and fought alcoholism as a result.
After seeing Tora Tora Tora as a young boy, I became fascinated with the war and I had a bunch of questions. He pulled out a shot glass one night and said he would only talk about the war that night and never ask again. Told me to not ask question I did not want the answer to and if I had nightmares to not come complaining to him.
I learned a lot about the tragedy and suffering of war that night. Told me a ton of stuff that is hard to believe frankly.
My point in all of this? Their are no rules in war, kill or be killed. When faced with death, humans resort to fight or flight and will do anything to live. If you are going to war, kill your opponent as fast and as many as possible to mitigate death to the home country.
My dad came home with a rising sun japanese flag he killed a Japanese general for, it is in my living room. The problems they encountered landing on the Phillipines was exactly what my dad described to me and what I saw reported on the History channel decades later.
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That was a powerful read. Hard to imagine living through that and the memories of it.
It is hard to imagine. Movies simulate, but there's still the comfort to the viewer that there's no threat. Simply impossible to replicate unless you live it. We are blessed to not have had to experience that in reality. And much IS owed to the Vets that have.
War really was hard on my dad, I was grateful he was honest with me at such a young age, I was persistent to get him to open up and I really believe some of the things he told me, I was the only one he told. I think it helped him a little talking about it, but wish he had talked about it decades earlier and perhaps got some resolution.
I learned many "whys" about my dad's behavior from that night. For example, sometimes we would come out of church and my dad would be in this glazed over not there look and he was in no mood to talk, always thought it really strange coming out of church. Well, that night he told me when the organ hits the low notes and made the pews shake it reminded him of the Japanese bombing runs.
My dad had completed parachute training for the invasion of japan and they had their first briefing on the invasion plans. He said at the end of any briefing they always asked if anyone had questions and no one ever asked questions. At the end of this briefing someone asked we have seen the invasion plan, but what about the evacuation plan to get them home? He said they were told, don't you worry if you somehow survive we will find a way to get you back home, we have no idea when that might be. He said they all looked around the room and knew then the army had already wrote them off as dead and they would not be coming back. He said they were told every man, women, and child in japan would be armed and would fight to the death. They were told their would be Grand Ma's with broom sticks sharpened to spears trying to spear them as they landed. They were told they needed to be prepared to literally kill anything that moved and approached them.
My dad had nightmares about the invasion, he said the happiest day of his life was when they dropped the nuclear bombs, said he considered himself dead and it was just a question of how many he took out before he died.
He told me when you are 18 to 22 years old you just want to come home, and he said the scariest part of war is that it will take good people and make them literally do anything, anything to survive and it makes you hate yourself for that. My dad did not feel like a hero, he wondered why so many died and he lived. I think he was ashamed of the things he had to do in order to survive and to just live. I believe many that serve might feel like that, they are forced to do things to protect us that they find morally wrong and have to live with it all their lives and the human condition of survival turns any man in to a killing animal.
What we see and hear about WWII has been sanitized from an American perspective.
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Yes, it made me realize some things. Appreciate what we have and the sacrifices others have made. Sometimes you have to bear a cross and be tough and hope you come out alright, faith is important. Life can be fleeting and make sure you tell those you love you love them, and someone is always worse off than you are when times are bad. What I do hate, that I learned from my dad, once you are in a war you need to go all out to win it, brutally so. The honesty of war is very scary, and I only experienced it thru my dad's memories and emotions, he lived thru hell on earth, can not imagine.
