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I struggle to believe that if a hostage with military training can notice and decipher the hidden morse code, that a hostage taker with paramilitary training wo

I struggle to believe that if a hostage with military training can notice and decipher the hidden morse code, that a hostage taker with paramilitary training wouldn't also spot it. But then it's probably not too much of a problem if they did, except for maybe shutting of the radios. The section of the song with the morse code almost sounds like there is interference. Maybe when played on the radio in the jungle it would be less obviously "odd" than when in a high def digital format.

Waterluvian 4y ago
There’s also the case of that one guy blinking “torture” in Morse code. I think we may oftentimes underestimate the chasm of difference between proper training and the lack thereof. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine brought that into focus for me, and probably a lot of people, that you can dress the part, talk the part, and still be complete garbage. It might be very easy to miss the signals when you’re focused on all the things that real warfighters have committed to muscle memory.
- 3pac 4y ago
  The crew of the USS Pueblo giving the Hawaiian good luck sign. It's an all-American moment.
- walrus01 4y ago
  There's also the method of using slang/phrasing that's obvious to your own side but the captors might be oblivious to, as in the North Korean captive example: "Bucher was psychologically tortured such as being put through a mock firing squad in an effort to make him confess. Eventually, the Koreans threatened to execute his men in front of him, and Bucher relented and agreed to 'confess to his and the crew's transgression.' Bucher wrote the confession since a 'confession' by definition needed to be written by the confessor himself. They verified the meaning of what he wrote, but failed to catch the pun when he said "We paean the North Korean state. We paean their great leader Kim Il Sung" ("We paean" sounds almost identical to "we pee on").[4]"
kika 4y ago
That "paramilitary training" mostly included training which end of the gun the bullet flies out and that's about it I believe. I've seen quite a few documentaries with/about FARC and the way they hold guns did not instill a lot of confidence in their training.
- peeonkim 4y ago
  Even the US forces have sensible limits on when and where you are provided interrogation resistance training, counter-intelligence, etc. Your third-world paramilitary is lucky to know how to use their iron sights in those days.
furyofantares 4y ago
I think you might find hostages much more motivated than their captors to spend time decoding a weird part of a song (out of nothing else to do or a desire to not think about their situation, rather than an expectation of a message meant for them).
icehawk 4y ago
Listening to it it's a bit easier to hear when the volume level of the sound is turned down to the point its a bit too quiet, I'm not actaully sure its intentional-- but if it is thats sort of a masterstroke.
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jasonhansel 4y ago
Given the inherent difficulties in providing specialized training to a thinly-spread and relatively disorganized guerrilla group, I'm guessing that they wouldn't have had the organizational capacity to conduct Morse code lessons.

Waterluvian 4y ago

There’s also the case of that one guy blinking “torture” in Morse code. I think we may oftentimes underestimate the chasm of difference between proper training and the lack thereof. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine brought that into focus for me, and probably a lot of people, that you can dress the part, talk the part, and still be complete garbage. It might be very easy to miss the signals when you’re focused on all the things that real warfighters have committed to muscle memory.

3pac 4y ago
The crew of the USS Pueblo giving the Hawaiian good luck sign. It's an all-American moment.
walrus01 4y ago
There's also the method of using slang/phrasing that's obvious to your own side but the captors might be oblivious to, as in the North Korean captive example: "Bucher was psychologically tortured such as being put through a mock firing squad in an effort to make him confess. Eventually, the Koreans threatened to execute his men in front of him, and Bucher relented and agreed to 'confess to his and the crew's transgression.' Bucher wrote the confession since a 'confession' by definition needed to be written by the confessor himself. They verified the meaning of what he wrote, but failed to catch the pun when he said "We paean the North Korean state. We paean their great leader Kim Il Sung" ("We paean" sounds almost identical to "we pee on").[4]"

kika 4y ago

That "paramilitary training" mostly included training which end of the gun the bullet flies out and that's about it I believe. I've seen quite a few documentaries with/about FARC and the way they hold guns did not instill a lot of confidence in their training.

peeonkim 4y ago
Even the US forces have sensible limits on when and where you are provided interrogation resistance training, counter-intelligence, etc. Your third-world paramilitary is lucky to know how to use their iron sights in those days.

furyofantares 4y ago

I think you might find hostages much more motivated than their captors to spend time decoding a weird part of a song (out of nothing else to do or a desire to not think about their situation, rather than an expectation of a message meant for them).

icehawk 4y ago

Listening to it it's a bit easier to hear when the volume level of the sound is turned down to the point its a bit too quiet, I'm not actaully sure its intentional-- but if it is thats sort of a masterstroke.

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jasonhansel 4y ago

Given the inherent difficulties in providing specialized training to a thinly-spread and relatively disorganized guerrilla group, I'm guessing that they wouldn't have had the organizational capacity to conduct Morse code lessons.