Dont Send Cute Young Girls On The Battlefield, Send This One Instead!

[Jaguar]

While we're mod bashing, why 9 smileys? 10 is a round number. I demand you add one more at once!

Originally posted by Ming

[Rogan Josh]

Originally posted by MichaeltheGreat
PFC Lynch was doing her job, just like PFC Piestewa was doing hers, and everyone else doing theirs. She shouldn't get undue attention because she's young and cute, it demeans her and everyone else young and not cute.

Wow! I actually agree with MtG!!!

[Sikander]

Originally posted by SlowwHand
Maybe the under-aged and the middle-aged can swing a deal.

It happens all the time.

[Sikander]

Originally posted by MarkG

don't forget you can't rent a car in the States until you're 25 either

now i'm lost. i thought you could drive a car at 16? you can drive but not rent?!?!

It's not a legal restriction, just the policy of most rental companies. Some will rent to you if you are 21+, and some if you are 21+ and in the military.

[muppet]

Originally posted by MarkG

Originally posted by Asher

young men don't adequately exercise good judgement with alcohol.

but they have good judgment when it comes to joining the army?

We know they don't exercise good judgement. That's why they're always "on-base", or in "foreign deployment". Even the Geneva Convention recognizes that our POWs are not fit for public display, and our allies can attest to their lack of adequate judgement. But that's all OK so long as they are not a public menace within our borders.

But we may run out of allies soon...

[The Mad Monk]

I think it's worth posting here as well, being on topic and all...

Pfc. Jessica Lynch, rescued Tuesday from an Iraqi hospital, fought fiercely and shot several enemy soldiers after Iraqi forces ambushed the Army's 507th Ordnance Maintenance Company, firing her weapon until she ran out of ammunition, U.S. officials said yesterday.

Lynch, a 19-year-old supply clerk, continued firing at the Iraqis even after she sustained multiple gunshot wounds and watched several other soldiers in her unit die around her in fighting March 23, one official said. The ambush took place after a 507th convoy, supporting the advancing 3rd Infantry Division, took a wrong turn near the southern city of Nasiriyah.

"She was fighting to the death," the official said. "She did not want to be taken alive."

Lynch was also stabbed when Iraqi forces closed in on her position, the official said, noting that initial intelligence reports indicated that she had been stabbed to death. No official gave any indication yesterday, however, that Lynch's wounds had been life-threatening.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14879-2003Apr2.html

Thanks to Drudge for the link.

[Chemical Ollie]

Let me guess that the next Hollywood top movie will be called "Saving Private Lynch"...

[ThePlagueRat]

Originally posted by MarkG
dont send 20-year old boys either...

Funk said he began doubting his fitness for military service during basic training last spring when he felt uncomfortable singing cadence calls that described violence and screaming "Kill, kill, kill."

btw, this incredibly signficant story of a single soldier who objects the war is on the first page of abcnews.....

It's can be a fatal and stupid decision for a young person to enlist, as they are being taught about the cruelties of war as "honourable" and "heroic". I tend to agree with Markos here, and I think it's a pity to let these young people harm their minds and bodies on the battlefield. Remeber the Vietnam vets?

When I was 19 , I joined the army. It's "mandatory" here in Norway, but we never go to war. (almost) Many people refuse service, but I was young an curious. After one month as a green infantry recruit, commanded by Rambo-like types, I had been philosophizing about my role on this planet. Soon I applied for a course and position as a medic. I was lucky and the was sent to army's medical school. There I found many girls. Some young and cute, and some older and more experienced with nurse and doctor background. It was really nice staying there, and I learnt useful things about first aid and stuff. Actually it was some constructive months, in contrast to this 20year old boy [above]. Ok. I am NOT a feminine type, if anyone was so ignorant to believe that?! We also had shooting training, skiing and marches as the combatants had. and approx. 25% of the medical staff were female.

If anyone didn't know, the Geneva convention states that medical personnell is treated as non-combatants, thus "protected" from enemy fire. It also states that those can only fire in self-defence. Therefore we carried a Glock17, with an effective range of 50m, and not assault rifles as the other guys.

NB: Something to consider for paranoid NRA-members who carry assault rifles
to "protect their families". Not an argument! Go buy a hunting rifle!

[TheStinger]

Do enemy bullets know that you are protected

[ThePlagueRat]

Originally posted by TheStinger
Do enemy bullets know that you are protected

Of course not. That's why I wrote "protected". You can be prosecuted in the Haag if you open fire on someone you can see carry a red cross. So a medic gotta keep his head low too, and make decisions whether to crawl towards a wounded or crawl into safety. Seen "Full metal jacket" ? A truly awesome movie.

Oh... well, a possible dirty trick is to dress in medic uniform and assault the enemy.

[Chemical Ollie]

I was a medic too, despite carrying an assault rifle. But perhaps battlefield medics giving first aid don't count as much as the professionally trained nurses.

[GeneralTacticus]

Couldn't you be hauled off to The Hague if you did that, as well?

EDIT: In response to PlagueRat's 'dirty trick'.

[TheStinger]

If i was on a battlefield medic or not I would want a big gun

[ThePlagueRat]

Originally posted by Olaf Hårfagre
I was a medic too, despite carrying an assault rifle. But perhaps battlefield medics giving first aid don't count as much as the professionally trained nurses.

Yeah there are two categories here, and they differ from country to country I guess.
You got infantrymen, kinda battlefield medics, which are not professionally trained. They carry infantry gear and I guess they are not labeled with a red cross. Thus not "protected" by int.law. I was trained as company level medic (corporal) , for some two to three months. Our roles were pretty much like the civilian paramedics, except they don't carry Glocks. Medical cars could also be equipped with submachineguns like an MP5, which is also low range and suitable for self defence. (hehe... they should be mounted for self defence on freeways.) Also we had mil.nurses and doctors, which have their civilian education and belong at regiment level and up (liutenant,captain, etc.) They can also carry Glocks.

[ThePlagueRat]

Originally posted by GeneralTacticus
Couldn't you be hauled off to The Hague if you did that, as well?

Yeah, I guess so. And by using a flamethrower too, and AP-mines, clusterbombs, etc.

Speaking of warcrime tribunals, if you are U.S. citizen I think you can be excused from international law nowadays. Their prez said something about approving the tribunal only if american citizens are excepted from it. It was not very long ago? What happened to that matter actually? (everything gets in the shadow of this Iraq war, nowadays)