re: #815 itellu3times

That’s easy, don’t shoot.

But if you have any empathy for them, why burn their homes?

You simply have to make up your mind. At least on this, I eschew the middle way.

My empathy, or lack thereof, is neither here nor there. Really, the second you sink the boats, you’ve killed the supports of the women and children. Clearing the village and burning it is merely making a statement. The women and kids (and any remaining adult males) are now charity cases for their clans, and you are pretty clear, I think, on what that means.

The point is to be harsh without committing atrocities. If atrocity happens, it’s on the heads of the people who owe protection to the women and children of the village.