Men by name only

[afterhours]

i've always considered them as cowards, with their use of women and children as shields and their "war" on civilian populace. not to mention the killing and torturing of their own- 'effin cowardly barbarians at best.

[wheresmy50]

Originally Posted by afterhours

i've always considered them as cowards, with their use of women and children as shields and their "war" on civilian populace. not to mention the killing and torturing of their own- 'effin cowardly barbarians at best.

I saw an interview once with the guys involved in the "Black Hawk Down" incident. The one guy was saying that the Somali men would send women or children out into the street to get a weapon from someone who had been hit; the men would also literally use the women as shields as they shot at the Americans. The Ranger went on to say that however unfortunate, they all realized that to get out of there alive, they had to consider anyone with a gun or being used as a shield as much of a threat as the men.

I completely agree that this is dispicable.

With that said, I don't think George Patton would have had the same problems if 50 Arabs in North Africa would have run into a Mosque. I can't see him wrapped up in some ethical dilemma - the Mosque would have just disappeared. What did Von Clausewitz say about limited war?

[spence]

It's not about being a coward, it's about being effective. Their social structure enables them to behave in that manner, and as such it's simply a means to an end.

I'd think it would take some major balls (or drugs, or brainwashing) to blow yourself up.

Most importantly, how we perceive actions of radical Islamists is vastly different from how other Muslims perceive them. It's easy to write off behavior that we don't connect with as simply crazy, and in doing so we loose sight of what's really going on.

-spence