From: Elizabeth Childs (echilds@linex.com)
Date: Mon Jun 28 1999 - 13:04:03 MDT
> I also never understood the concept of civilians anyway since as
> you pointed out in many cases they elected their leaders. A
> definite lack of personal responsibility.
A person can dedicate their entire lives to fighting a dictator, and
still be stuck in a country in wartime as a civilian. We don't share
collective, borg-like responsibility with everyone who happens to live
in the same geographical space as we do; by that standard, the students
who died at Tianamen square would be as culpable as the soldiers who
killed them.
Many regimes are so oppressive that any public attempts to stop them
will guarantee a person's death. Under such circumstances, it's very
hard to tell who supports the regime on the ground; in the air, it's
impossible.
At the very least, an attacking army should make a special effort to
avoid blowing up the prisons, the most likely location for dissenters.
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