From: wolfone@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Patrick Chester)
Newsgroups: alt.activism,alt.politics.clinton,alt.desert-storm
Subject: Re: **** ANOTHER COVER-UP - Please read this... ****
Date: 29 Sep 92 20:57:44 GMT
Followup-To: alt.activism
Organization: The University of Texas at Austin, Austin TX

In article <24SEP199220484519@gergo.tamu.edu> dave@gergo.tamu.edu (Dave Martin) writes:
>
>And to think, we were just so outraged at the thought that Saddam might use
>chemical warfare -- at how improper and illegal an act that would be. We
>certainly aren't as civilized and proper in wartime as we expect of the enemy.
>Just remember what kind of actions will be expected of you when Bush restarts
>his little war game. 
Chemical warfare is very different from conventional warfare. One major 
difference is that chemical warfare is banned under the Geneva Convention
of 1925(date?). Chemical weapons are hard to detect without special equipment 
unless you want to rate one of your soldiers as "expendable" and have him
walk around w/o protective clothing to act as a "canary" (I wouldn't recommend
that, it can get you fragged.) The protective gear is uncomfortable and can
cause casualties thru heat exhaustion. One other fact about chemical weapons
is that they are more effective as terror weapons or as surprise weapons.
Against prepared troops, they are ineffective except for the few who fall to
heat exhaustion. You also suffer the same problems as the troops you just 
gassed because your soldiers must fight in the same damn protective gear too.

As to your talk about civility in warfare. Civility has little to do with  
warfare. You must do what is necessary to win, but only what is necessary
to your strategic needs. If you must fight to win, then fight. If you must
retreat to survive and later win, then RLAMF. Sympathy *or* anger towards
your enemy can ruin your chances of victory. Emotion should have little to do
with your war strategy. Of course, emotion has a lot to do with other aspects
of warfare such as commanding soldiers but I don't have time to write a book.
I recommend you study Sun Tzu's _The_Art_of_War_ for further studies. Don't
be afraid, you won't be "contaminated" by militarism. With your attitude 
towards war, you have little to fear in that respect. Just remember the
quote from B.H. Liddell Hart: "If first you want peace, then understand war."

By the way, would you stop calling war a game? I know it's probably a tool  
for propaganda purposes since it makes those who currently support a war 
look cavalier towards the violence...or tries to. It doesn't help you very
much and makes YOU look cavalier to war IMHO. War is not a game. Nor should
it ever be thought as such. 

Okay, I'm off my soapbox. Can I go home now?
 

>
> -                                                                     -
> - Dave Martin - Geochemical & Environmental Research Group, Texas A&M - 
> - DAVE@GERGA[GERGO,GERGI].TAMU.EDU - BROOKS@TAMVXOCN.BITNET - AOL:DBM -
> -                                                                     -


-- 
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Patrick Chester            |"The earth is too fragile a basket in which to keep
wolfone@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu |  all your eggs." Robert A. Heinlein
Politically Incorrect      |"The meek shall inherit the earth. The rest of us
Future Lunar Colonist      |  are going to the stars." Anonymous
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