Re: Planetary defenses

Mikko spake thusly upon matters weighty: 

In the interests of political correctness and brotherly 
understanding, I have provided translations of your obviously 
unfortunate and poorly informed word choices. No doubt a fault of 
society's very fabric rather than any personal defficiency....

> a) You might be an alien attacker with motivation incomprehensible to
> humans

a) You might be a non-terrestrial sentient being with motivations 
which appear difficult to understand unless due consideration for 
your racial physiology, history, biology, sociology, and culture is 
applied. 

> b) You might be a religious/political fanatic with motivation
> incomprehensible to sane humans :-)

b) You might be a terran or non-terrestrial sentient of spiritual 
inclination whose World View encompasses a very different set of 
ethnic, cultural, mythological, and non-secular belief objects. This 
non-scientific and possibly holistic approach may seem unfathomable 
to technocratic secularists, but with due empathy and open minded 
consideration they could surely come to appreciate the values of your 
religious tradition (and if not, God knows what to do with them). 

> c) The planet might not contain anything of value besides the enemy
> base(s)

Ergo nothing of value. 

> d) The *threat* of total annihilation coupled with demonstrated
ability
> can cause a surrender. You do remember Hiroshima, don't you?

Sure. And do you think that if the Japanese too had had the bomb and 
the ability to deliver it that the US would have Nuked Hiroshima and 
Nagasaki? I doubt it. They wouldn't have wanted to open that door. 
It's one thing if you're the only one who can do it....it's another 
if it can be done back to you. But the lessons here still apply to 
space combat and planetary bombardment.  

> Standoff tactics are boring as hell to game. But they can work, and
> they're typically the safest option in terms of manpower. Thus, if
time is
> on your side, they're likely to be the first thing to try.

Ratiocination and Attritional Warfare by whatever means are usually 
the tactics employed by those who don't have the raw manpower to push 
through all opposition, but they are very effective and reasonably 
conservative.  
 
/************************************************
Thomas Barclay		     
Voice: (613) 831-2018 x 4009
Fax: (613) 831-8255

 "C makes it easy to shoot yourself in the foot.  C++ makes
 it harder, but when you do, it blows away your whole leg."
 -Bjarne Stroustrup
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