Korean Job Discussion Forums

[jmbran11]

Back to the OP's questions - yes, many Americans do feel bad when civilians die. Many Americans, like myself, feel great sorrow for the violence that is being perpetraited in the world, and for the actions of our government. The Bush administration does not represent all of "our" people. Many Americans do somehow feel it is more tragic when our citizens die thain when foreigners die. I don't know if that's because we feel more worthy of life than poor people, or because it is just natural. Most Americans have never experienced war, we are not accustomed to being attacked. We see it on television, but we can't feel it, because we've never been bombed or watched innocent loved ones die. It doesn't affect our daily lives and we can't do anything about it, so we largely just try not to think about it too much. We are not heartless.

And, yes, civilians are hurt in all wars. Any nation with power will abuse it to some degree. It's human nature. It's pointless to argue about which conflicts are just and which hurt more people. But, the reason many Americans will accept this loss is because, in our hearts, we believe our country is more just and righteous than other countries. I'm not arguing that it's true, just expressing what I believe others feel. We believe that we have a better standard of living, a higher respect for democracy, and that we are capable of justice and judgment upon those who are less civilized. We believe our army (and government) doesn't want to kill civilians and tries to be as just as is possible in warfare, while lessor nations will kill, rape, and maim civilians without restraint. For example, we put our own soldiers on trial for misconduct in Iraq.

I'm not defending the U.S. I have a deep hatred for our current administration and its decisions. But, I will defend the American people. We aren't heartless. Maybe we are smug and (I believe) too easily misled by propoganda, but we also care about other human beings. We have a long tradition of fighting for the rights of others. While I vehemently disagree with basically everything my government says and does, and am a loud critic of policies I disagree with, I will never be ashamed to be an American.

It's little brother syndrome. You can treat your brother like crap, but when someone else crosses him, you band together and defend your family. Americans can criticize the U.S., but we get defensive when foreigners do it. No country is perfect. If other nations had as much power as the United States, they would be have as badly (or worse).

[ddeubel]

[NAVFC]

[ddeubel]

[cbclark4]

"Aerial warfare is the use of military aircraft and other flying machines in warfare. Developing from unpowered observation hot air balloons in the 18th century, aerial warfare has become a high-technology affair that has led to many advances in techniques such as propulsion, radar, and carbon fibers."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_war

"A war is a conflict between two or more groups that involve large numbers of individuals. Wars may be prosecuted simultaneously in one or more theatres of war. Within each theatre, there may be one or more consecutive military campaigns. Individual actions of war within a specific campaign are traditionally called battles, although this terminology is not always applied to contentions in modernity involving aircraft, missiles or bombs alone in the absence of ground troops or naval forces."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_war

Land warfare in the 21st century involves three distinct types of combat units: Infantry, Armour and Artillery.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_warfare

Naval warfare is combat in and on seas and oceans.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_warfare

Information warfare is the use and management of information in pursuit of a competitive advantage over an opponent. Information warfare may involve collection of tactical information, assurance that one's own information is valid, spreading of propaganda or disinformation among the enemy, undermining the quality of opposing force information and denial of information collection opportunities to opposing forces.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_warfare

Space warfare is warfare that takes place in outer space. Technically as a distinct classification, it refers to battles where the targets themselves are in space. Space warfare therefore includes ground-to-space warfare, such as attacking satellites from the Earth, as well as space-to-space warfare, such as satellites attacking satellites. It does not include space-to-ground warfare, where orbital objects attack ground targets directly, or the indirect military use of satellites for espionage, surveillance, or military communications. No incidents of space warfare have ever occurred and placement of weapons and military personnel in space is limited by international treaties.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_warfare

A covert operation is a military or political activity performed in secrecy that would break specific laws or compromise policy in another country. Covert operations almost always illegal in the target state and are sometimes in violation of the laws of the enacting country.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covert_operation

cbc

[djsmnc]

Civilians is gettin killed?

Shoot, must be all them uncivilians theys runnin round with