This is why we have rules, even in war. So that one dopey Admiral, commanding one battle group, doesn’t “poison the well” for the upcoming global alien war.
This is first contact with an alien presence, presumably there will be more, and now, there will be no surrender the next time our forces become overmatched. Thanks Admiral, you’ve potentially doomed tens of thousands of soldiers to their deaths.
Potentially, it’s not just tens of thousands of soldiers: it could be the whole population of Earth, if the aliens decide on the basis of this episode that Earthlings are not to be trusted.
The whole perfidy thing is minor compared to what we did to the captured alien females.:eek:
'Tis expressly against
the law of arms!
'Tis as errant a piece
of knavery, mark you now, as can be offered!
That’s my thought. If they’ve come all the way here to invade, their goal is to eat us, enslave us, lay their eggs in us, or some combination of the above. Making any other assumption is putting the entire human species at risk. So why do you hate all humans, Bricker?
Or fascists, or commies, etc. Dehumanizing the enemy in warfare is hardly anything new.
It’s hard to dehumanise them when they’re, you know, not human!
It’s an odd heroic message to be sending. Completely odd. It’s classic cheating.
Now let’s add this fact: The admiral is told there are no more soldiers left. This is the last battle. We lose, the human race is dead/enslaved. No more fighting.
Is the rule of law still supreme? (i.e., I’d win if I did this, but the law says I can’t do that to win). Do you allow morals to defeat you? Was the concept of rule of law even meant for this type of end of civilization scenario? Or is there some level where civilization falls so completely far apart that you’re allowed to cheat to keep your civilization?
It would have been more acceptable to at least hint at such circumstances.
The Rebels do it twice in Return of the Jedi.
The droids and the ewoks and Han and Leia both fake surrender to storm troopers in two separate incidences. Then again, the Empire tortures and executes prisoners, so I think we can forgive the Rebels for fighting a bit dirty themselves.
Commander Sheridan did something pretty similar in Babylon 5, during the Earth-Mimbari war: his ship was crippled, so he strapped an SOS beacon to a nuke and set it adrift. When the Mimbari flagship came looking for it, he detonated the nuke.
In that case, however, Sheridan was the first (and last) human to successfully destroy a Mimbari ship, and the Mimbari had already established that they don’t take prisoners.
Had he surrendered? It’s a fine point, but putting an SOS on a booby-trap is morally different than ‘surrendering,’ then ‘Gotcha Ya!’-ing.
Yep, you’re all over it! That scene doesn’t scene doesn’t convey any sense of honor. Pretty lame writing. So, just remember that next time the Lego navy tries to surrender to you. Run like hell!
No – you take two steps:
(1) Order their personnel to come to your warships as prisoners of war, without any weapons. (And shoot any with any kind of weapon, because carrying a weapon is inconsistent with surrender.)
(2) Once they tell you that they are all under your control as prisoners of war, either take command of their warships or scuttle their warships – whichever is more convenient to you.
The object would be to make sure they have no weapons of any kind left under their control.
Warning: after typing this out, I’ve realized that what follows is NOT about a video about toys.
My father fought in World War 2 (US 69th Infantry Division) against the Germans. His war stories included a “reversed” version of the sort of perfidy depicted in this video. Instead of “Surrender, then blast the foe by surprise while he is accepting your surrender,” it was “Blast the foe by surprise, then immediately throw your hands up and surrender before they can shoot back.”
As Germany crumbled in 1945, his division began to encounter teenage fighters – Hitler Youth who were akin to “child soldiers,” ruthlessly indoctrinated with hate and violence. These boys would pop up with a Panzerfaust (the WWII analog of the now-ubiquitous RPG rocket grenade), or a Schmeisser submachine gun, and let fly at the advancing American infantry.
Having shot their bolt (the Schmeisser can empty its entire magazine in less than four seconds, the Panzerfaust was a one-shot weapon) and perhaps killed or wounded some Americans, these kids/monsters would instantly throw their hands up and claim surrender, trying to do so before the surprised Americans could orient and return fire.
But persuading the enemy to accept one’s surrender is notoriously the most dangerous transaction on the battlefield, even in cases without this combination of treachery and arrogant presumption.
My Dad went on to emphasize, “We always shot those guys down. ALWAYS.” He said it savagely, confrontationally, knowing it would shock most listeners, daring us to argue with this slur on the “Good War” theme. His face would flush and he would go rigid.
We could see how much it tortured him, 50 years later.