Russia v. Ukraine

 "He has come to open the purple testament of bleeding war." - Richard III, Shakespeare

What has gotten into these people? Look at the Ukrainian soldiers hunkered down in the Azovetal Steel plant in Mariupol. While we marvel at their courage, we must wonder, "Why don't they surrender?" 

In World War II, Stalin forbade his troops to surrender to the Germans. He expected them all to fight to the death. If they surrendered, he considered them traitors. His own son was taken prisoner by the Germans. When the Germans realized they had captured Stalin's son, they offered him up in a prisoner exchange. Stalin replied, "I have no son."

Hitler was no better. He forbade his generals to retreat, no matter the circumstance. In Stalingrad, over 100,000 German soldiers of the 6th Army were trapped by Russian troops. To preclude a surrender by the commanding general, Friedrich von Paulus, Hitler promoted him to Field Marshal. That was the highest honor. No German field marshal had ever surrendered his army. Field Marshal Friedrich von Paulus surrendered anyway. Ninety thousand German troops were marched from Stalingrad to Moscow in the dead of winter. Of those 90,000 men, only 5,000 made it back to Germany alive. That is the nature of these people. Their history is in them. 

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Chemical Warfare

What is the difference between nations using chemical weapons against their enemies - which is a war crime according to the Geneva Convention - and the police using tear gas, which is a chemical agent, against their own citizens? 

I know what tear gas does. I was tear-gassed, indirectly, (collaterally). I thought I would die. When it happens, you can neither see it, nor smell it. Suddenly, you simply cannot breathe. It starts with a cough, then gagging. Panic quickly sets in. (That's what happens when you find you can't breathe.) Someone yells, "Tear gas!" Now, you understand. But, there is nothing you can do. Too late to cover your nose, your mouth. It is not about tears, it is about breathing. Most people survive a tear gas attack. But, they never forget that moment when they could not breathe.