Tolkien Picks Up A Few More Bits Of Cultural Baggage [Awww... the orcs are just misunderstood!]

Early in the new film of Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers," the heroes happen upon a pile of burning carcasses, the smoldering remains of a party of orcs bred by the evil wizard Saruman. These orcs were ambushed and slaughtered by horsemen from the kingdom of Rohan, the heroes' allies in the great war enveloping Tolkien's fantasy world. Despite their military advantage, the riders took no prisoners; in fact, they slew so recklessly that they didn't even notice that the orcs had prisoners of their own. As a memento of their victory, the horsemen left behind an orc head gruesomely spitted on a spear.

In the real world, the horsemen's wanton slaughter of the enemy -- no matter how evil -- would probably qualify as a war crime. In its gorily violent film incarnation, however, it is just one episode in a rousing tale of good versus evil. The heroes' sense of mission remains unclouded...

Happy New Year, HOTD.

Just read the "article" by this Liberal. Some points of interest:

Mr. Mooney is obviously not a veteran of the Armed Forces. Were he, he would know that as desirable as following the so-called "rules of war" mayy be, it is not always possible when facing an intractable enemy. See both Dresden and Hiroshima. War, unfortunately, is not won by mercy, it is won by ruthless assault and violence of action. Mercy, whilst an admirable quality, is only admirable (and possible) in a VICTOR.

Mr. Mooney mentions, as most naive liberals do, the Geneva Convention. He forgets that without the enforcement power of (primarily) the U.S., that document would be utterly meaningless (as opposed to "almost meaningless"). It granted no protection whatsoever to Americans imprisoned in the Hanoi Hilton, nor did it save those massacred at Malmedy, nor those tortured on the Bataan Death March. All it did, like all "laws", is provide for the punishment of the wrongdoers...AFTER they had worked their evil. when I went through SERE (Survival,Escape,Resistance,and Evasion, the ONLY school in the military where they are ALLOWED to physically...abuse students) school, we were taught that, if captured, we could expect the worst, Geneva be damned.

Finally, in this (admittedly useless) attempt at moral equivalence, Mr. Mooney somehow ignores the fact that, in context, the actions of the Rohirrim might well prevent further slaughter. Consider that such a battle scene, witnessed by other orcs, might cause them to think the better of attacking or invading that area, thus negating their similar fate, and certainly saving the lives of innocent civilians, who, by the way, are properly the Soldier's CHIEF concern. The enemy comes a distant LAST.

No, the Islamicists do not, so far as we know, engage in cannibalism. However, they DO certainly engage in the slaughter of innocents, the torture of prisoners both civilian AND military, and violate ALL so-called "rules of war". Simply because they may gripe to one another about their lot on occasion does NOT make their actions the less reprehensible. I'm sure, for example, that concentration camp guards grumped about the food and the smoky air, too. It didn't make them any more human, nor worthy of mercy.

Yes, Hair, you are ultimately correct, comparing a wonderful fantasy story to real events is a fool's errand, but this one required a dose of reality to balance it. Liberals, in discussing war, tend too often to apply their own "fantasy" to it. Such foolishness must be countered.

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