Combat and China

The Tibet protest yesterday is a problem for China. It is important to remember that China is not a democracy. This incident reminded me of something that occurred in 1989.

Some fighting had occurred inside China early in the year. When the students lead the protest at Tiananmen Square, the Chinese government sent in combat troops. Not just any troops. They sent in the units that had been involved in the recent fighting. And surprise, they not only went in and obeyed orders, they did not take any shit. They opened fire when opposition was not obeying orders.

Combat experienced troops are different. The fact that you are fighting for your life and depending upon your comrades in arms installs an experience that is difficult, if not impossible to replicate in any other circumstance. During training, obeying orders is very important. When the bullets start to fly, the training you underwent kicks in. You need it and it helps you immeasurably. Afterwards, many soldiers realize how important that training was. (And the deficiencies) The point is that the leadership of China knew this.

The Chinese government deliberately sent in recent, combat experienced troops. They knew that order would be restored and very little, if any backtalk would be tolerated. They knew that these men would not be hesitant to open fire. This was important because of that film that showed the crew of that tank did not want to injure the man who was standing in front of it. The leadership of China could not allow anything like that to occur again. With the Olympics coming up, please keep this in mind when you read or think about China.