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Minimizing casualties is typically the first priority in any combat engagement. People like to point at very publicised situations where things went horribly w
by AndrewKemendo 7y ago
Minimizing casualties is typically the first priority in any combat engagement.
People like to point at very publicised situations where things went horribly wrong or there were major breakdowns in good order that led to those considerations being ignored. However if you dig deeper there will typically be major investigations (which is BTW how these Incidents come out usually) and severe punishments, not to mention all the follow on effects for the rest of the force like increased training in Laws of armed conflict etc...
- Someone 7y agoThe cynic/realist would say its not minimizing casualties but minimizing negative effects of casualties. That nowadays is necessary to win a war because society doesn’t accept as much suffering from both own and enemy forces and civilians as it used to. The USA got out of Vietnam because of lack of home support and decreased morale of its soldiers (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War#Collapsing_U.S._morale https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War#Collapsing_U.S._mo...), not because of the enemy’s strength.
- clSTophEjUdRanu 7y agoAs a former USMC grunt with multiple combat deployments this is spot on. I try cutting slack here or on Reddit but most of the time when these topics come up you can tell nobody has any clue what war is like.