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RE: Victims



Franz,

Obviously, you do not have a good sense of history.  For one thing the

Nazi's did use poison gas.  I am sure you remember hearing about Auschwitz

and the other camps.  Of course, this is more analogous to Saddam Hussein

who used it against civilian populations.  I am surprised he did not use it

against the Iranians he was fighting.  



The reason poison gas has not been used in warfare since the WWI is that

each side had huge stock piles and had made it clear that they were going to

use it.  It was the "Mutual Assured Destruction" of its day.  During the

Gulf War, our first President Bush said that in the Iraqis used biological

or gas, we would respond "without restraint."  This is a nice way of saying

"You'll be sorry," because we have nuclear capability and will use it.  (As

an aside, before Desert Storm started, there was a report of transports

being diverted from their voyage to Johnston Island in the Pacific Ocean to

the Persian Gulf.  Around this time, the US Army was removing stockpiles of

chemical weapons that were stored in Europe, to use against a Warsaw Pac

invasion, and taking them to Johnston Island where they would be

incinerated.  If you have trouble figuring out the connection, let me know.)



It is important to remember that during WWII, civilian cities were

legitimate targets.  The idea behind this type of strategic bombing is

destroy factories that produce war materiel, storage locations, and

transportation centers.  Unfortunately, most of these are located in cities.

I am sure you saw the effects of strategic bombing.  Hiroshima and Nagasaki

were just an extension of that program.  It is more efficient with one bomb

in one plane rather that using waves of planes carrying high explosive bombs

and incendiary bombs to incinerate the cities and those who could not

escape.  



If you served in the military as a leader, you learn several things about

combat.  First, you must use all of your resources to complete the mission.

Second, you try to keep your troops alive so they can go home.  (In the US,

most of our officers were average American, unlike Europe where the officer

corps were from the aristocracy.)  During WWII in Europe, when Allied troops

approached a town, they would try to get the local leaders to surrender.  If

they refused, they called in artillery of flatten the torn.  You did not

waste your own troops.  In present world, our own citizens would be appalled

by this idea.  However, 50 years of relative peace (excluding Korea and

Vietnam Nam) puts a differ perspective on life.  Remember is was only 20

years between the two world wars.



Again, it is very easy to criticize what was done in the past by

politicians.  One can even ask why Austrian government and many of its

people voted to join Nazi Germany.  But I do not blame you for that, but

have you ever considered it?  What do you think they were doing?



-- John 



-----Original Message-----

From: Franz Schoenhofer [mailto:franz.schoenhofer@chello.at]

Sent: Wednesday, August 07, 2002 3:30 PM

To: Jacobus, John (OD/ORS); 'RadSafe'

Subject: Re: Victims

. . .

So you openly declare, that the Allies (= the US troops) would have breached

against international law by using poisonous gases? Not even the Nazi-regime

has used them during WW II !!!! This is a slap into the face of your nation,

which critizises correctly the use of poisonous gases by Saddam Hussein

against Kurds. So you put the Allies on the same level as Saddam Hussein? Or

are you supporting his politics against the Kurds?



It is unbelievable, how far some people go to defend previous actions of

their politicians and military, if they are criticised.



Franz







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