Rumsfeld's on Bravery

Kevin Brooks wrote:
IIRC his service was just after the Korean Conflict. That said, it
takes a decent pair to land a high performance aircraft on a pitching
and rolling deck IMO.

Without getting into debates about his personal bravery, I've been trying to
figure out exactly what Rumsfeld did fly. He's mentioned flying S2Fs in the
reserves, and he was a flight instructor after completing flight school
(SNJs or maybe T-28s, right?). But despite several biographies calling him a
Navy fighter pilot, I can't find any reference to him flying a specific type
of fighter.

--
Tom Schoene Replace "invalid" with "net" to e-mail
"If brave men and women never died, there would be nothing
special about bravery." -- Andy Rooney (attributed)

"phil hunt" wrote in message
. ..

Saddam was an assassin in his youth, which presumably took osme
courage.


Why do you presume that assassination requires some courage?

On Tue, 16 Dec 2003 05:35:31 GMT, Steven P. McNicoll wrote:

"phil hunt" wrote in message
...

Saddam was an assassin in his youth, which presumably took osme
courage.

Why do you presume that assassination requires some courage?

Because the assassin is deliberately doing an action that he knows
is likely to increase the probability of his death or serious
injury.

--
"It's easier to find people online who openly support the KKK than
people who openly support the RIAA" -- comment on Wikipedia
(Email: , but first subtract 275 and reverse
the last two letters).

"phil hunt" wrote in message
. ..

Because the assassin is deliberately doing an action that he knows
is likely to increase the probability of his death or serious
injury.

I seem to recollect that Sadam's "assassination" activity was more on the
lines of the thug killing rivals for his boss. In most cases that involves
a group thing against an un-armed victim.

A killer, especially of the bullying sort (and that he is) is merely
pathological. Bravery involves much more than a physical act that can have
unpleasant consequences.

The only assassin I ever met fact to face was one I arrested for murder. He
was not brave, only sociopathic.

Don H.

On Tue, 16 Dec 2003 02:18:28 -0600, Don Harstad wrote:

"phil hunt" wrote in message
...

Because the assassin is deliberately doing an action that he knows
is likely to increase the probability of his death or serious
injury.

I seem to recollect that Sadam's "assassination" activity was more on the
lines of the thug killing rivals for his boss. In most cases that involves
a group thing against an un-armed victim.

According to Wikipedia:

In 1959, Saddam was involved in a CIA-supported assassination plot
against Prime Minister Qassim. Saddam was shot in the leg, but
managed to flee on foot (after removing the bullet from his own
leg) to Syria, from where he would later move to Nasser's Egypt. He
was sentenced to death in absentia.

So clearly he was shooting armed people (or at least, people with
armed bodyguards).

A killer, especially of the bullying sort (and that he is) is merely
pathological. Bravery involves much more than a physical act that can have
unpleasant consequences.

Why does it?

--
"It's easier to find people online who openly support the KKK than
people who openly support the RIAA" -- comment on Wikipedia
(Email: , but first subtract 275 and reverse
the last two letters).

Why do you presume that assassination requires some courage?

Because the assassin is deliberately doing an action that he knows
is likely to increase the probability of his death or serious
injury.


By that same logic however, murderers, rapists, thieves, bank robbers, and drug
abusers are all courageous.


Ron
Pilot/Wildland Firefighter

On 16 Dec 2003 20:04:59 GMT, Ron wrote:
Why do you presume that assassination requires some courage?

Because the assassin is deliberately doing an action that he knows
is likely to increase the probability of his death or serious
injury.

By that same logic however, murderers, rapists, thieves, bank robbers, and drug
abusers are all courageous.

Perhaps a better word would be "more than averagely predisposed
towards risk-taking behavior". I'm not sure that's true about drug
addicts, mind, since they aren't entirely rational.

--
"It's easier to find people online who openly support the KKK than
people who openly support the RIAA" -- comment on Wikipedia
(Email: , but first subtract 275 and reverse
the last two letters).

"phil hunt" wrote in message
. ..

Because the assassin is deliberately doing an action that he knows
is likely to increase the probability of his death or serious
injury.


Hmmm......, that description would seem to apply to many activities that
probably few people would find courageous. Drug running, gang activities,
armed robbery, etc.