Okay, anyone watched the movie?
I liked Tears of The Sun. Say what you want - I admit it has a lot of flaws - but I just love every second of it. I once watched it 7 times in a week.
Would I liked Act of Valor? I don't want to feel disappointed.
Doitpow said:
I'm not a fan of the work of 90% of the military and the more "realistic" movies about real wars get, the more I see it as attempts to further justify often illegal military action.
Okay, since I was talking about Tears of The Sun, let's talk about illegal military action.
It is needed.
A few days, probably almost a week ago, people were rescued from Somalia by special forces. Obviously, there was no legal way to just send a "legal" operation to rescue them.
EDIT: It was a month ago.
Remember that special forces do not wear patches or any insignia on them. Most special forces in the western world use AR15 based weapons such as the M4 or the M16 for deniability reasons.
Therefore, if captured the enemy can just consider that they are not wearing a recognizable uniform and ignore the Geneva conventions. They are risking their necks for human lives.
Let's talk about the movie Tears of The Sun.
Basically, Nigeria is at war and they have to rescue a doctor that is a US citizen and has no way to leave the country. Situations like these call for illegal operations.
The Allies winning WWII required illegal military operations (back when the SAS and OSS were taking their first steps).
Doitpow said:
I'm not a fan of the work of 90% of the military
Yeah, that kinda pissed me off. Sure, I would be the first in line to criticize a lot of things we have seen in the last decade.
But let me tell you. My father was a on board mechanic in the Air Force, and flew in both fixed wing and rotor aircraft.
He participated in Search & Rescue missions, Medivacs/Casevacs, medical air drops, all that jazz.
He was there to save fishermen after their ship had sunken. To fly sick people in Africa to the nearest hospital. Damn, even dolphins trapped in lakes formed by the dry season, that had to be airlifted by helicopter.
Say what you want, but the Air Force does not consist on 10% of the military, but you probably wouldn't know about that until you or someone you know needs rescue.
bravetoaster said:
Elaborate, please, or provide a few examples? While the quote may be applicable in some places and/or circumstances, I fail to see the actual relevance to modern Americans (i.e., who/what would keep me from being able to sleep safe and sound at night [aside from local criminals, maybe] and who, outside of Washington DC, threatens or takes away American freedom?).
Leaving the blind American patriotism aside, I can surely tell you you'll be thankful for the military if your city was struck by a natural disaster like Katrina.