I don't at the moment have the time to participate in this discussion
but make bold to interject a proverb from the Sumerians (circa 3500 BCE)
that came to mind when reading these two of David's examples...:
You take the neighbour's land and the neighbour comes and takes your land.
Ursula
david ritchie wrote:
Consider the crusades. You take an army, invade the Holy Land, rampage, burn, pillage, "teach them a lesson," win what would seem to be a pretty complete victory and what happens? The believers return for another round.
Consider early siege warfare. Standard practice was to give those in a castle a chance to surrender. If they refused, when the castle fell everyone was put to the sword. Complete victory. Did this prevent their friends and relatives from planning a counter-attack sometimes generations hence?
------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
