During WWII the actions of the Germans, Japanese and Soviets were orders of magnitude beyond the constraints of civilised warfare.
I do not think that anyone doubts this.
... and the slaughter of non-belligerents on a routine basis were not exercises practised by the Western Allies.
What would you call massive area and fire-bombing of German and Japanese cities then?
I read this thread with interest, as it is the first one I came across dealing with the question of ethics, though I understand there must be others.
Regarding the topic of the thread, I think there is a point to it.
Do we need scenarios covering the SS-Dirlewanger Brigade, perverts even by the lousiest SS-Standards? Why has it to be them? Haven't there been enough other units involved in the Warsaw uprising?
I surmise, that the scenario designers intention has
not been to remember them as a solemn admonition of how units should not behave in war. Thankfully, there are also no "game mechanisms" detailing atrocities in particular for that matter.
But if this has not been the intention, what then? I can only conclude that some people must feel some kind of special interest or thrill "playing" the most notorious war criminals. This
is in my view a questionable motivation.
Regarding the spin-off discussion that followed:
As this is a wargamer's forum with ASL focusing on WW II in particular, one has to assume that its members should have at least an above average knowledge about that war compared to an average member of their respective nationality - which does not necessarily mean much.
Still, I find it remarkable, that while the
undoubted magnitude of actions beyond the contstraints of civilized warfare by Axis powers are readily pointed out, the question if such constraints might have been violated by Allied powers beyond the scope of not taking prisoners in a particular military operation or something comparable, is hardly ever raised.
Please do not get me wrong: It is not my intention to sum up two sides of a bill - far from it.
But I do find it remarkable.
The reasons for this, particulary for Americans, lie probably in the fact, that their civilian population has not been subject on a large scale to war since the US Civil War. In fact, one could advance the argument that the US population has lost most memories of how it is to be on the sharp end of a war as a civilian. In Europe, almost every grandmother could tell to us grandchildren.
The one most vivid memory US civilians have of being "bombed" is 9/11. This time, there were US civilians on the sharp end large scale. I dare to raise the question for contemplation: Would it have made a difference for the survivors and bereaved if the terrorists had put forward some just cause? Would it have made a difference for any civilian survivors or bereaved if they had been targeted by indiscriminate bombing?
I leave that to be sorted out for anyone to himself.
Suffice it to assess, that those who have closer memories to being at the sharp end of war or atrocities, especially as civilians, might find a "game" scenario a bit too close to reality and thus tend to adhere to a tighter frame of ethics as a basis for such.
I think that neither the game of ASL as such nor the community would lose anything taking this into account.
von Marwitz
