Re:Current Events (Hospital ships)

> From: "Alan and Carmel Brain" <aebrain@webone.com.au>
>> From: "Brian Burger" <yh728@victoria.tc.ca>
>
>> ObGZG Ref: Speculation as to the workings of the Red Cross/Cresent & 
>> other
>> NGOs in 2185? I can see large de-mil'd carriers or converted civilian
>> shipping in gleaming white livery with giant red crosses, designed to

>> act
>> as mobile relief/aid stations for colonies in trouble. No idea if
this
>> could have any scenario bearing at all - just interesting background
>> speculation.
>
> ...and I can see such vessels being used for gun- and/or drug-running.
> Even as Q-ships.

There's a reason contemporary hospital ships are not shot at (much - I 
can't speak in absolutes, because I don't know for sure).

If you're a big enough power to have a dedicated hospital ship (how 
many in the current world - a handful?) the ship is itself well known - 
even famous - as such, at least in the main theater of operation. Any 
clearly identified force firing on a hospital ship labels itself as 
criminal in international eyes, and likewise, any group camouflaging 
combat units as medics does much the same, since they make _everyone's_ 
job of tending to the wounded in a combat area hard to impossible. In 
"civilized" war (oxymoronic as that term is) this simply won't happen.

In Guerilla,  Terror, and Propaganda wars (e.g. GWII) it is far more 
likely, but then the side that would _want_ to do this rarely has the 
resources to pull it off (as in getting a significant military ship to 
disguise - If they had those kind of resources, they'd be using on 
something more effective and less flashy). The most I would expect is 
what we see- using hospitals, shrines, schools and civilians as 
hideouts/shields in attempts to get the enemy to commit perceived 
atrocities. That's a propaganda war only, really. If they actually 
launched successful attacks from those locations, they'd lose a great 
deal of sympathy from remaining fence sitters (depending on the eyes 
and ears there to see and report it, of course).

All bets would be off on a Xeno war. I have no idea whether the KV, SV, 
or even Phalon would respect a Human hospital ship or pull a 
Hospital-Q-ship tactic without scruples. My first guess is the KV 
wouldn't respect ours, but wouldn't think to try the trick themselves. 
The SV would behave differnetly on tuesday than on thursday, and the 
Phalons would do whatever gave the most advantage. I don't think of 
them as being that deceptive as a matter of course, though.

In sum then, I think a handful of  "Great Hospital Ships" sprinkled in 
each of the major fleets makes a great deal of sense.

Bizarre Lag Phenomena	    (Why it is sometimes hard to communicate 
with Noam Raphael Izenberg)