I remember reading an account by a young soldier in the second world war. The war was going badly for Germany, and he was conscripted into the army. Before he l

I remember reading an account by a young soldier in the second world war. The war was going badly for Germany, and he was conscripted into the army. Before he left, his father gave him some advice, based on his own experiences in the first world war. The advice was to surrender to the first American he saw. The father had been taken prisoner by the US Army during the first world war, and his experience in captivity was such that he advised his own son to surrender to the Americans as quickly as possible, rather than fight. How many lives, both American and others, were saved by this and others like him? We'll never know, but if your enemy believes that by surrendering to you he will be safe and well-treated, surely many. So where are we now? Now the narrative is "If the Americans capture you, you will wish you were dead." Everyone who carries out these tortures is holding a gun to the head of every American soldier in the field. I'm surprised that torturers don't get fragged by their own side more often. Maybe they do.