Re: Enough of this...

You wrote: 

>In a message dated 98-05-13 00:08:20 EDT, Tom Hughes writes:

For whatever reason, I havn't seen this message.

><< Relax John, the stuff we do is all a game! The real nut cases don't 
play > with soldiers, they join militias and pretend to be soldiers 
(you aren't > a militia man John are you?) >>

Define 'militia'.  I'd point out that by Federal Law, all able-bodied, 
male, US citizens aged 18-45 are part of the Unorganized Militia, 
excepting those in the Armed Forces.  So you are probably a 'militia 
man' yourself.

And the short answer is yes.  I belong to the category of militia with 
the highest readiness level (remember I excluded the Regulars above), 
the Army National Guard. 

>     OK, let's nip this in the bud right here.  
>     John is talking about using SG2 to represent actions far more 
common and >unpleasant than most of us like to think that most wars 

I'm just going off what I know about colonial actions in Terran history 
and SF, notably David Drake's Hammer's Slammers.  

have.  Yes, shooting >at crowds with machineguns is disturbing, but 
honestly, if people are watching >a crowd threaten men with 
machineguns, the situation is getting out of hand >anyway.  That's what 

And with illtrained or illdisciplined troops, especially if they come 
from a culture which doesn't put much value on human life in the first 
place, it's going to happen.

wars are about.  When other options fail, or are not >effective.  I'm 
sure that John is not endorsing random violence (& our Yank

Nope--and I'm not endorsing doing this to people you are supposed to be 
protecting.  Except as a last resort.  I like sucking oxygen, and will 
not let any finicky whining by ivory-tower academics prevent me from 
doing so.  If I have live ammo and have to make a choice between my 
life and someone else's, I'll make the call in favor of my life.  Too 
bad if that offends you.  And I consider myself an American patriot who 
loves his country.  Now imagine a mercenary with no stake in the 
society which employs him.  How much easier is it make that decision?  
Probably a lot.  Now put him on a planet other than his own, where he 
doesn't speak the language, and have a completely hostile populace.  
What happens there?

>     And now my personal comments as a father of a young child : My 
son loves >going outside.  We live in an area where that is not a good 
idea all the time. >We are trying to get out of it as quickly as 
possible.  I am concerned about >bullet-drop - physics most people 
can't comprehend.  I hear gunfire nearly >every night.	I own firearms, 
as a collector, enthusiast & for protection.  I >don't pretend to be a 
soldier.  I do know enough to protect my family.  I >would rather have 
soldiers on the street corners than those who reside there >now.  That 
way I would know that the people with the guns are properly trained
>in their use (with a bit of police training thrown in, maybe, or a LOT 
more >cops, with better guns).	A GOOD troop commander might make my 
neighborhood >safe.  He would care about what happens to my son, 'cause 
that's his job!  

Hear, hear.  Note also that overwhelming force is more than enough to 
keep most common criminals off the street and in hiding.  Only fanatics 
with political, religious, or racial agendas are going to argue with 
someone driving a Hummer with a .50 cal on top 
_even_if_he_has_no_live_ammo.  This is a lesson of Los Angeles.

John M. Atkinson