Would DUers Make For a Good Combat Fighting Force?

[JSJ]

I know there's a sizeable contingent of vets in here, and they would probably be in the forward units (then, again, you combat vets don't have to be in our avant guard, anymore, if you don't want)- but, how about the rest of us? Do you think we have what it takes to mount physical attacks and counter-attacks against whatever menace is truly out to harm or enslave us? Have fun with this one- or not!

[Lucky Luciano]

1. I would be dangerous in combat if I believed in the cause. nt

[JSJ]

3. here, too, lucky n/t

[LibraLabSoldier]

2. Depends....

The antigun set in the gungeon would probably need to be in the noncombat arms. Most of us veterans could probably train you guys into a reasonable guerrilla fighting group....as long as you didnt have debates every time we had to launch an assault. And for the most part, since violence seems uniformly verboten in here, probably not.

But hey, I would be willing to give it a shot!

[JSJ]

4. let me see your war face, sarge!

I was hoping there'd be offers such as yours. I think any debates as to tactics would be settled on the internet. Keeping the net up and running would of course be a priority of our technical units.

[DeepModem Mom]

5. DMM has a fantasy of being alone for 5 mins. in a room with Ralph Nader --

I would possess the strength that enables mothers to lift automobiles off a trapped child, and my fantasy involves propelling Ralph around a very small room by his necktie. He'd emerge alive, and not seriously harmed, but no longer seeking a spot on ballots in the 2004 election.

[blalock]

6. I thought we were anti-war

and anti-violence.
Guess I was wrong.

[JSJ]

7. i'm not always anti-war--- just anti-one-sided slaughter

And if you don't think current forces in DC aren't capable of unleashing a hailstorm of grief our way, then just wait.

[newyawker99]

10. Hi blalock!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Surf Cowboy]

19. Yeah, you were.

I'm neither anti-war nor anti-violence. Sometimes wars need to be fought, and many times, people need to get their asses kicked.

Anti-war and Anti-violence sure sound nice, but it's a pretty shortsighted vision. In order for it to work, everyone needs to agree, which they don't. I'm sure the Jews are pleased that we weren't anti-war in WWII.

I am anti-STUPID war, however, which puts me against this thing in Iraq.

[Vickers]

20. Of course we're anti-war and anti-violence

Any reasonable person is.

That is the main issue I have with Georgie...he uses military means to "solve" problems that don't require it.

But be advised, somebody messes with me, I'm gonna fuck 'em up.

P.S. I'm a veteran.

[HuskerDem]

27. Anti - Imperialist Fascist buttmunches

would cover it I believe...........

But I would be willing to give my life to a struggle against a fascist takeover of America.

[Cat Atomic]

28. Don't you mean you "hoped"?

[Nimrod]

8. I'm too old and out of shape

To be much good on the front. I'm not too shabby at booby traps though... :)

[LeftHander]

9. I'll carry a gun when you force it into my cold dead hands.....(nt)

[JSJ]

39. i won't have a gun...

...until I pry it from the cold dead fingers of a freeper.

[Bandit]

11. When you are strong in your beliefs you can accomplish wonders

I am old now. I once was a Combat soldier. It was not as glamorous as TV makes it seem. We fought against a very poor people who had no Air force, No Navy, No armored vehicles of importance but what they had was a strong sense of right. It is hard to win against a force like that. We have that sense of right and we will prevail. Sometimes the battles last longer than we would wish though.

[THUNDER HANDS]

12. I'll lead the pointed-stick brigade

In the rear...waaaay in the rear.

[Aristus]

13. Me and matcom could train the DU Tank Corps.

We'd be deadly!

[chromotone]

14. I could serve in the band!

I would be honored to be a member of the woodwind section...

[noonwitch]

15. Not me, I'm a wuss.

I can defend myself, but I couldn't be in a position where I had to kill people in a war setting. I'm just not that tough.

[Cheswick2.0]

16. I think we'd be great at verbal abuse

We could talk em to surrender. I think we'd also make a great USO road show.

[sadiesworld]

17. I think we would probably kill each other.

[Surf Cowboy]

18. No. Not enough in the way of strong stomachs on this site.

No offense, that's what makes a lot of dems and libs who they are.

It takes a lot to intentionally hurt people with your own hands. You have to be pretty fucking mean. This site on the whole is way too sensitive to take a hill or a bridge. I'm sure there are a few of us out here with the requisite blood-lust, but probably not enough to forge a decent combat force.

[JSJ]

21. kick for late shift

[BeFree]

22. War is a failure

...a failure of diplomacy.

I would think we'd be able to avert a war. Afterall, that is what we are doing here, we are democratically subverting the wishes of those who want us to succumb.

I guess you could say we are in a war of words at this point and if we fail, it will become a war with deadly weapons. Would we win? Nah. They have WMD..

[shraby]

23. I can carry the tea

to the harbor.

[Julien Sorel]

24. Too many people would refuse to take orders.

Commander: "We need to take that hill. Control that hill, and control this battle."

DUer 1: "We know that hill is important. We've been watching them blow the shit out of us from that hill for days. You think we don't know? We're contributing to winning this fight in our own way, and don't need your help."

DUer 2: "I don't see why we need to take that hill. You are being condescending. I'm intelligent, and can form my own ideas, thank you."


DUer 3: "Just give me some time to get used to the idea of taking that hill. I liked that smaller hill over there better. It would help if you weren't trying to insult my hill of choice. My hill isn't transferable. Ordering me to take that hill just hurts my feelings."

Commander: "OK people, we are losing this battle. We need to get our shit together and take that hill. Now."


DUer 1: "Who elected you commander? I can make my own decisions. Just because you order everyone around, doesn't mean I have to listen to you."

DUer 2: "Explain to me exactly why we need to take that hill. I'm not convinced."

DUer 3: "You said 'shit.'"

[DemVIctory]

25. I am ready to fight these traitors til my last breath.

SOMEBODY has to stand up to these Nazis before America becomes the 4th Reich.

[Cat Atomic]

30. T.E. Lawrence might've called that an asset.

I was just reading part of his biography this month, and there was one part that really stood out to me. I can't quote it verbatim, but the message was that his Bedouin forces were much more effective (man for man) than any organized army. He put it down to their individualism, and motivation.

It was interesting- he said the purpose of a rigid military structure is to 'turn a man into a unit; something quantifiable and predictable'. He said it was necessary for large scale planning. But the effect was (or is) to lower the performance of all down to the lowest common denominator.

Anyway, I just thought that was interesting. He considered his own forces to have a distinct advantage because they were so "unorganized".

[LibraLabSoldier]

33. Welcome to the US Army, CAT

I have had problems since I have been in the Army, because i refues to "play the game". Translation: I dont kiss ass. I dont suck up. If something is stupid, inefficient, or just plain screwed up, I tell someone, and then I fix it. That kind of blatant nonconformity scares most army people, but since my Job performance is the best where I work, no one really says anything. Actually, they treat me kind of like an idiot savant. You know, let the kid add up the sixteen digit numbers, but dont try to hold a conversation with him.


You guys would make an effective fighting force, once the first few of your relatives disappeared, or had your door kicked down in the dead of night, ect. Fascism is a scary beast with many heads......But there are enough soldiers,sailors, airmen and Marines in here (I know, i capitalized Marines...they tend to get touchy if ya dont)to train and make combat ready the rest of you. Also, if the crunch ever came, do you honestly think most American troops would shoot and kill American citizens, our families, friends, and neighbors? Negative.

[Julien Sorel]

36. Col. Lawrence was an interesting man.

Keep in mind, when push came to shove, the Arabs stopped arguing and fought. For too many DUers, arguing is the same as fighting.


As a complete off-topic comment, just about the most melancholy line I've read in my time was Lawrence describing his life shortly before his fatal "accident": "I feel as a leaf that has fallen from its tree in autumn, and is now waiting to die." That's not a direct quotation, but close enough. If you're ever feeling down, think of Lawrence, a man of exceeding intellectual and physical gifts who had lived an extraordinary life, reduced to that at the age of 46 or so.

[HuskerDem]

26. To defend REAL freedom, as my father fought for........

I would die for that cause.

[DemWitch]

29. Gimme a Humvee with A/C

and a firearm that sprays ammo with a huge supply of reloads and I'm there. But don't expect me to walk my ass more than 100 feet in any direction carrying anything heavier than a bottle of Desani.

Overweight, over 40, smoke like a 67 Dodge Dart...

[LibraLabSoldier]

35. Screw the Hmmv....

Dem, we will stick you in an Abrams and let you rock and roll with a 25MM......and that baby has got A/C!!

[DemWitch]

37. OK... that'll work...

as long as I can shoot alot of shit at once and make some serious damage.

[LibraLabSoldier]

38. 25MM...that ought to say it all

And that is just the main gun. It also has two 240G side machine guns that fire 7.62. The main gun fires a cyclic rate of 600 plus rounds per minute. Oh, and each one of those rounds weighs about a half pound. ANd the Abrams does about 70MPH with two big turbine engines roaring....You would be like a Valkyrie!

[Solar]

31. I was actually going to join...

Uncle Sam didn't want me though on some medical technicality. Odd how when I want to join, Im turned away. But those poor guys in the NG thought they were done and *opps* they get shipped right back.

[MirrorAshes]

32. I'd fight for the right reasons.

Funny, I was adamantly anti-gun until this administration scared me into truly believing I might need one one day.

[sweetheart]

34. No guns, just nukes

I can help threaten to push buttons. Geesh, thats even easier than
typing this message, as "no" buttons get pressed, and perhaps if
someone is really slow, a space based test in a remote region of
pakistan fired from vandenburg, would certainly remind people that
ground forces and huge conventional deployments are so last century.

Frankly, i'm very anti-nuclear terrorism, but since our entire
culture is based on nuclear terrorism, then we should either use
the dang things, or forever dismantle them and eschew their use.
Methinks the best way to achieve the latter, is by threatening the
former. People have forgotten that this MAD arsenal is our primary
defense today. Better they are reminded before its too late.

[The Flaming Red Head]

40. One of the lounge threatened to slap the shit out of me in an email

and said he logged his first kill at 18. Of course, I am a 40 year female with no combat training, but as long they fight unarmed women like me. Probably.

Peta people are bad ass.

[Pepperbelly]

41. marginally superior to harsh chemical laxitives ...

:D