X-Ftn-To: Bert Hyman 

"Bert Hyman"  wrote:
>> I agree with you completely, and this is the reasons why armies all
>> over the world are armed with bows and slingshots instead of rifles,
>> tanks, missiles and nuclear warheads. After all, dead is dead, and
>> you can kill a man with anything - bare hands, knife, a rock, a
>> gun... all the same.
>> ;>
>> 
>
>I take it that you're unaware of the carnage wrought by mobs (armies,
>if you like) of people wielding nothing but machetes, spears and clubs
>during very recent events in Africa and Asia? 

Oh, I'm aware of it. I'm also aware that in massive warfare, the
powerful weapons actually seem to reduce the number of casualties -
compare the Gulf war or the Croatian "Storm" operation, and the
Hutu-Tutsi massacre, or mass killings with knives and simple weapons
in India-Pakistan war. Sophisticated warfare often results in minimum
casualties.
But, the issue was the effectiveness of weapons, and I guess you agree
that a 10 megaton thermonuclear device is a much more effective killer
than a machete? However, exactly because of its greater effectiveness,
it is less likely to be used, and one is less likely to expose oneself
to the risk on being targeted by it. This is a complex problem.
However, I guess you would agree that it isn't wise to make the
thermonuclear devices widely available "for self defense"?

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