From: Elizabeth Childs <echilds@linex.com>
>> I also never understood the concept of civilians anyway since as
>> you pointed out in many cases they elected their leaders. A
>> definite lack of personal responsibility.
>A person can dedicate their entire lives to fighting a dictator,
>and still be stuck in a country in wartime as a civilian. We
>don't share collective, borg-like responsibility with everyone who
>happens to live in the same geographical space as we do;
In a dictatorship they do not share responsibility, in a representational republic, we do. When China demanded those responsible for the bombing of their embassy be punished, I was hoping that someone would point out that as commander-in-chief their lapdog clinton was ultimately responsible.
>by that standard, the students who died at Tianamen square would
>be as culpable as the soldiers who killed them.
????????
>Many regimes are so oppressive that any public attempts to stop
>them will guarantee a person's death. Under such circumstances,
>it's very hard to tell who supports the regime on the ground; in
>the air, it's impossible.
Many of the Serbs openly supported Milosevic, I agree it would be difficult to target them individually, but I hold them liable.
>At the very least, an attacking army should make a special effort
>to avoid blowing up the prisons, the most likely location for
>dissenters.
We agree on this. I would like to live to see war vanish from the human experience, but I would have to live a very long time......
Brian
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