(08-22-2021, 04:09 PM)americus 2.0 Wrote: I'm reading some interesting conversations in a reddit Afghanistan thread about how things went down over there. One conversation was specifically about the ANA surrendering after their chain of command ordered them to. Another reason they surrendered was they ran out of ammo and simply couldn't fight anymore. One question/comment in particular was interesting. 

It's a domino effect too though not just crooked. If you see cities falling and it looks like you're going to lose. Wouldn't you rather surrender and hope to have some favour with the Taliban rather than fight and lose men and possibly be executed? And if you decide that then surrendering becomes even more appealing to the next leader along the line.

None of us knows how we'll react in high stress situations but my first reaction to the bolded part was, hell no I would not surrender. As a woman I'd just be trafficked for sex so obviously I would 100% fight to the death and I just wouldn't go down without a fight. But you guys would have.....options. Would you fight no matter what or would you surrender?

I agree that one never knows how they will react in a life or death situation.  

Would I fight for my country?  Yes.  
Would I die for my country?  That's a tough one.  I don't know.  We give out medals to people who do that.  That means it's not an easy thing to do.  

I'm glad people are willing to serve.  But our politicians get us into so many idiotic debacles, I don't think I would volunteer to do "whatever they tell me to do."  

Some wars are clear cut good vs evil.  Other wars involve defending economic interests.  Would you die for Exxon?  If you were British, would you die to defend the far reaches of the British Empire against the people who live there?  

Someone mentioned surrender.  Would I ever surrender?  Aren't we glad the Germans finally surrendered in WW2?  On the other hand, a lot of times in war, soldiers surrender even though they know they will probably not survive as a POW.  That has never made sense to me.  I wonder if the Germans who surrendered at Stalingrad knew they would be marched off to Siberia to die of starvation or to be worked to death.  

It's a great question.  "Would you fight for your country?"  Yes, probably, but I would want to know that I was actually fighting for my country, and not just fighting for Exxon, or fighting to preserve an empire.  In the Civil War they used to say, "Rich man's war, poor man's fight."  It's the poor people in this country who lose their life in combat, or come home crippled, or with PTSD.  What are we persuading people to do, and why?  Maybe we're better off ignoring that question, because we are all grateful that people volunteer to serve in our armed forces.

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