From: Smigrodzki, Rafal (SmigrodzkiR@MSX.UPMC.EDU)
Date: Wed Oct 31 2001 - 15:03:22 MST
Daniel Ust wrote:
And it's about time! Once such assassinations begin, hopefully, war will
turn into leaders being killed -- as opposed to civilians or drafted
soldiers. If war returns to being a specialized affair of the elites, then
the masses will, hopefully, turn away from it and we can approximate and
hopefully improve on the the pre-Napoleonic view of war as just the affair
of kings -- and not of whole societies against one another.
### Do you believe that the serfs slaughtered by the king's men in
pre-Napoleonic wars were voluntarily participating in the king's wars?
Somehow I do not share your rosy view of history, indeed, the fact that the
elites at that time were specialized in military activities (as opposed to
today's elites being specialized in trade, law and science), just means that
they could kill with less fear of opposition.
Assassinations are a poor method for fighting against people who have little
to lose.
Rafal
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