Military Buffs I need your help.

[Thermodyne]

Originally posted by Puke:

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Originally posted by Thermodyne:
If I were forced to say it bluntly in one sentence, then yes. I would prefer to say that any and all aspects of a nation’s economy are subject to attack when at war. And this includes the people that give comfort and support to said economy. As a point of clarification, we are speaking of total war, the likes of WWI and WWII. These actions would not apply in the cases of police actions and interventions.

and the US civil war! man, Sherman sure knew how to do it! those Americans really showed those darn Americans who was boss! And dont forget our colonial efforts. Take out all those women and children with smallpox infected blankets, before they breed another generation of redskins.

And lets not leave out Korea. Better nuke those cities and the staging grounds in China before more forces can be mustered. leveling a city not only hits their economy and industrial complex, but puts a quick end to alot of potential soldiers before they even get started.

Oh, wait. we didnt get to nuke Korea and China. I wonder how the world would be now, if we had applied the 'war is hell' doctrine then? Now im not going to tell you that war should be a gentlemans game, and everyone can be expected to play nice - but you have to concede that there are some very good cases for excercising moderation.

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Korea was not an all out war. And as such does not belong in this discussion. Korea was a display of national will as much as it was a war. It was the first application of measured response. Had it been fought as a total war, the outcome would have been different. The communist government of China would not have survived and most of Chinas major cities would have been bombed to dust. America would have been forced to draw down the troops we were defending Europe with. And the Soviets would have used the war as an excuse to expand to the west. With America out of the picture, all of Germany would have come under the soviet boot. Would England risk the soviet bomb to save Germany? And France, what of them? A quick look at to politics of the time would indicate that the socialist and communists would have easily gained power in France. Italy and Greece would have also fallen into line. So yes, the world would have been very different.