Warfare has evolved in the last thousand years, and even as recently as a few hundred years ago civilians would pack a picnic and sit on the edge of a battlefield to watch the carnage, rooting for their side like it was a gladiatorial combat or particularly aggressive sports match rather than combat to the death. World War II really marked the beginning of civilian targets being acceptable in combat, and by the Gulf War…Read More
Review: Captain Phillips
We read the stories in the newspaper, about Somali pirates boarding a cargo ship or tanker and holding the crew for ransom. But it’s always been implausible. Pirates are like Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) in Pirates of the Caribbean, foppish, overdressed and certainly not particularly dangerous or even relevant in modern times with automatic weapons, GPS navigational systems and live satellite surveillance. The remarkably gripping film Captain Phillips goes a long way to explain why…Read More