神风特攻队——第二次世界大战中的自殺式攻击及其军事与文化理论基础 
日军神风（Kamikaze）飞行员和他们在
二战最后一年对美军战舰进行的自殺式攻击，已经成为那次大战中最令人恐惧的记忆之一。当我写作这篇小文的时候，距离恐怖分子使用自殺攻击杀害纽约和华盛顿的数千民众只有三年；此外，当自殺式恐怖袭击在全世界残杀无辜平民的时候，将那段
历史清晰的展现出来无疑是很重要的：那些乞灵于有系统地使用自殺
战术的人，最终都会失败。
除了介绍
日本神风队员的空中袭击以外，这篇文章还探讨了二战中的其他自殺式
武器和战术，以及自殺战术的军事与文化理论；以求能更好的了解这种自由世界正再次面临的狂热威胁。
神风飞行员——日本最后的武器Kamikaze一词在日语中意为“神风”，而以此命名的部队则是日本为抵消美军领先于日军的巨大技术与物资优势而做的最后努力。神风战术于1944年10月19日由日本
海军中将大西泷治郎提出。当时此人正受命指挥一场空战以对抗登陆菲律宾的美军庞大舰队，并且很快明白他只有不到100架可动飞机能用于此次任务。鉴于没有任何常规战术能击沉或重创美军舰艇，中将迫切需要一支能加倍起作用的部队，以及一种能从现有实力中获得更大攻击力的途径。
解决方法是显而易见的。与非制导武器相比，制导武器能戏剧性地产生更客观的精确度和致命性，每件这种武器每次出击都能产生更大的杀伤力。这种装备在一年以前就已经研制成功并投入实战了，不过并不是在日本。
德国空军自1943年9月以来就已经成功使用大型无线电制导炸彈“弗里茨—X”攻击敌方战列舰和巡洋舰了，然而日军却没有这种武器。所以，大西中将建议由志愿人员全程驾驶的装载炸彈的飞机，对美军战舰目标进行自殺式撞击并引爆机上炸彈。作为一种活生生的“制导系统”，这种武器简直可以算是“聪明炸彈”了。
这种新战术立刻被采纳了。大批飞行员——起初是有经验的老手，后来则是缺乏训练的航校学员志愿者——被分配到了“特攻队”，这是神风部队的正式名称。他们的目标和信条是：“一人一舰”。
为了提高神风飞行员们突破美军舰队四周由战机和高炮组成的密集火力从而到达舰队中部的主力舰、特别是那些最诱人的航空母舰上空的成功率，日军在冲绳（Okinawa）
战役中集中了绝大部分神风队员，组织了十次混编了神风自殺机和常规战机的大攻击波，企图一举突破美军舰队的防御。这次代号“菊水”（floating Chrysanthemum）, 的攻击将与日军舰队和冲绳的地面部队相配合，是大战中最后一次大规模战斗。
在第一波神风攻击中，355名神风飞行员协同341架采用常规战术的战机，一起配合一支包括了超级战列舰大和号在内的舰队向冲绳的美军登陆舰队发起进攻。这次进攻的战果为：击沉6艘，重创10艘。
遭到神风机撞击的美军航母
当日本耗尽了可以用于神风作战的正规战机以后，低速教练机也派上了用场。此外还有一种投入使用的航空器则是“樱花”（Okha），这是日本最后的新式装备。樱花机是特意作为一种神风特攻“导弹”来设计的，这是一种在机鼻部位携带了一枚1200千克炸彈的小型火箭驱动飞机。使用时，樱花机首先由一架轰炸机在距离目标20-30公里处投放，与此同时神风队员点燃机上火箭迅速逼近目标。樱花机在最后的俯冲过程中能够达到576英里/小时的最大速度，比其他任何飞机都快。不过大多数"樱花"甚至还来不及投放就连同母机一起被美军战斗机击落了。
日军使用的“樱花”自杀机
日军在
战争中一共出动了5000多名神风飞行员参战，其中绝大部分用于冲绳战场。这一切大量消耗了日军航空队仅存的人力物力资源，神风队员拼死努力的战果是击沉美军舰艇36艘，击伤368艘。目睹一波接一波的自殺飞机冲过冰雹般的防空火力俯冲以及随后撞击引发的大爆炸，这种可怕场景令美军官兵极为恐惧。然而神风自殺战并没有达到阻止美军推进这一
战略目标。此外，美军也對日本南部的神风特攻队基地进行了轰炸以削弱日军自殺部队的实力。尽管这些狂热的武士作出了巨大牺牲，日本仍然输掉了这最后一次战役，并最终输掉了整个战争。
其它神风特攻部队和武器装备 绝望的日军企图采取自殺战术来避免失败，于是还命令陆军和海军采用其它的自殺战术和武器装备。从军事角度来看，这类特攻策略在大多数情况下都大同小异：由一名乘员全程精确“制导”一件大威力的爆炸类武器接近目标并进行致命的直接撞击，从而以此将一件简易装备转变成一种可制导的“聪明炸彈”。日军还采用了下列除神风自殺机以外的自殺战术和装备——不过这些东西取得的战果更少：
高速自爆小艇——日军采用了意大利的同类武器。不过当意大利海军突击队使用这些小艇来执行对敌军舰艇的特别驱逐任务时，日军却把它们当自殺武器来用。日本总共生产了数千艘这种小艇，但大多数都被储存起来一防备盟军對日本本土的进攻。它们在实战中一共击沉了8艘美军舰艇。这种武器在二战后仍然使用了好几次，有时是用于驱逐任务，有时则是用于自殺袭击。最后一次有记录的战例发生在2000年10月12日，当时基地组织（Al-Qaeda）的恐怖分子使用这种小艇发动自殺袭击，重创了停泊在也门（Yemen）亚丁港（Aden）的美军驱逐舰科尔号（USS Cole） 。
遇袭后的美军“科尔”号驱逐舰
自殺式鱼雷——此种武器实际上在神风自殺机之前即已问世。日军在这些名为“回天”的扩大版鱼雷上为自殺攻击驾驶员配备了一个很小的驾驶舱和潜望镜，并且还附带了燃料、氧气和一个巨大的3400磅（1530千克）雷头。这种武器通常从经过特别改装的潜艇或军舰上发射。回天鱼雷生产了数百条，但仅仅击沉了两艘美军舰艇。（注一）
自殺式袖珍潜艇——袖珍潜艇在大幅降低了标准航速以后，发展成为一种自殺攻击装备。这种武器携带了炸彈而不是原先配备的鱼雷。（注二）
携带炸彈的自殺式蛙人——似乎并没有多少参战记录，而且仅仅只重创了一艘美军登陆艇而已。
携带反坦克地雷的自爆步兵——这是属于日本陆军的自殺袭击部队。他们的目标和信条是“一人一车”。
为了反击美军在冲绳的登陆作战——这被看作是盟军正式进攻日本本土的最后前奏，绝望的日军高层于1945年4月6日下令，要求日军所有兵种所有部队都必须参加自殺攻击。次日，当时有史以来最大、火力最猛的超级战列舰大和号奉命前往冲绳进行一次单程自殺攻击。这一任务的意图并不仅仅是尽可能多的摧毁美军战舰；大和号还企图在冲绳搁浅，这样一来该舰不仅不回被击沉，还能一直顽抗到底。不过这一计划也失败了：战斗力可观的大和号在被美军侦察机发现后随即遭到大规模空袭，还没有到达冲绳就被击沉了。
还有一种贯彻了这种自殺攻击理念的战术是使用战机直接对美军重轰炸机进行撞击而不是开火射击。
N粹德国也在战败前训练和组编了自殺攻击队员。第一支德军自殺攻击部队是“利奥尼达斯”（leonidas）中队，由德国空军中专门执行特别机密任务的KG200派出的志愿人员组成。他们的武器是德制喷气动力导弹V1的人工操作型号（注三）。尽管这支部队在经过训练后已经可以投入实战，但他们一直没有被允许参战。其原因很有可能是德军装备的其他空对地武器更为先进，因此自殺攻击相比之下反而成为了对飞行员生命的不必要浪费。德军手中的先进空对地武器装备包括无线电制导炸彈、无线电制导导弹，以及“槲寄生”（Mistel）——这是一种在机首安装了重磅炸彈的无人驾驶中型轰炸机，由固定在这架无人机上的一架常规战斗机的驾驶员进行控制；在引导无人机对目标开始最后的俯冲以后，飞行员驾驶战斗机从无人机上脱离并飞回基地，与此同时无人驾驶的轰炸机则撞向目标并引爆。与那些缺乏训练的自殺特攻飞行员形成鲜明对比的是，这些由经验丰富的老手引导的无人机在对敌军舰艇和具有战略意义的桥梁进行攻击时竟然达到了一个不算低的成功率。（注四）
德国空军的“槲寄生”
另一支在战斗中采用了自殺战术的部队是德国空军第300战斗机联队。该部在战争即将结束之前受命使用撞击战术对付盟军重轰炸机，不过这一战术几乎没有被使用，成功率也不高。
自殺式战法的军事与文化理论基础 不论是过去还是现在，所有类型自殺式攻击的军事理论基础都很简单。当军事决策者们计划进攻那些被认为具有极其重大战略意义的敌方目标时，他们手中通常缺乏足够的军事资源来达到目的。这种情况通常还与指挥官缺乏随机应变能力与军事才能，以及部队会遭到更惨重的伤亡相联系。但是在极端情况下，如果这类任务不会因为实力极度不足而取消的话，那么就需要采取那些不到万不得已不会使用的极端手段了。这无论是对于一位计划进攻军事目标的军队指挥官还是对于一名想大量杀伤平民的恐怖组织头目都是如此。
只要手中还有比较有效的、哪怕是那些算不上优秀的部队，日军就不会选择自殺战。牺牲是应当的，但决不应该是自殺。日军只是在他们的劣势已经恶化到了即使普通的部队伤亡都明显无能为力，并且缺乏一种急需的新式武器（导弹）的时候，才转而使用自殺战术作为代替的。
这一军事理论也同样适用于自殺式恐怖袭击。当基地组织第一次袭击世贸中心的时候，他们使用的是一颗定时汽车炸彈而不是自殺袭击由于这次袭击没有达到预期目的，加之基地组织手中没有任何巡航导弹或是轰炸机，因此他们要扩大袭击规模并用现有资源摧毁世贸中心和五角大楼的唯一途径，就是将大型民航客机变成由自殺袭击者驾驶的巨型巡航导弹。
只有当军事决策者们考虑到自殺战术是他们的唯一选择而不单纯是对兵力的巨大浪费时才会使用这么极端的手段。这一点可以从那些曾经使用过、或者现在仍然在使用的自殺战术上得到清晰证明。下面是两个例子：
尽管德军训练了对地自殺攻击飞行员并为他们提供了装备，尽管德军曾经试图使用自殺飞机对付盟军重轰炸机，他们最后还是放弃了这种手段而是选择了“槲寄生”这一更有希望成功的无人武器。
在发动一系列全球范围内的自殺袭击震惊了整个自由世界的同时，基地组织恐怖分子也用一系列非自殺袭击证明：尽管他们很渴望进行自爆袭击，但只有在认为目标很重要的时候才会这么做。
自殺战的另一个重要组成部分是文化理论基础。人类社会只有在面对某种公众认为已经严重到使他们自身面临毁灭的威胁时，才会采取自殺战——无论这种毁灭是文化上的还是物质上的，或是类似的大破坏，都是如此。
在那种情况下，投降或是与敌人妥协显然都不是办法。而如果在军事上确有必要使用自殺战术的话，那么大批坚信自己和家人无论如何都会死亡的军人都会志愿参加自殺特攻任务的。这不是疯狂，而是极端情况下的一种正常理性的行为。这种做法已经被证明或者至少从理论上会被所有人类文明接受。
自殺战理论中最危险也最不幸的一部分内容，就是那些迫使人类文明采用自殺战术的"威胁"往往最终被发现是虚假的，和能被外界所影响的。被军部头目们洗脑了多年的日本民众相信，二战战败这一从孤立的日本历史来看是该国第一次重大失败的事件将导致日本民族的灭亡。而已经被重创了的日军航空队飞行员们即使想硬抗一支庞大的敌军，也无法阻止那些成群结队的重轰炸机对他们的朋友和家人进行无休止的轰炸。因此许多日军飞行员相信这种"威胁"是真实的。在日军如此认识到他们的处境后，对于不少飞行员来说，选择加入神风特攻队以尽量拯救其他自己人也是理所当然的。
这种威胁并不一定是军事上的。那些狂热的基地组织恐怖分子和他们的支持者拥有的文化就像当年的日本人一样，不仅ＢＬ、狭隘，而且还对外国人极为恐惧。外国人，即使是外国平民在这类人的领土上的活动，以及外国的音乐、时尚、文学、媒体特别是外国的现代思维都被他们看作是难以忍受的文化威胁甚至是故意挑衅，所以这些人对那些他们所认为是的“敌人”发动圣战。在缺乏他们的敌人所拥有的先进制导武器和强大军事实力的情况下，这种人会在必要时毫不犹豫地发动自殺战以大量杀害无辜平民，并且乘坐民航客机前去撞击目标——以此作为一种很合适的远程武器代替品。
我将再次通过提醒人们那段历史来结束这篇文章；那段历史告诉我们，所有这些有系统地反复使用自殺战术的人必然会失败。解释这个道理很简单：这些人之所以采取自殺战术，是因为他们在科技和经济上比他们的敌人落后，从而导致了他们在军事上的落后，否则，他们是不会像那样采取自殺战法作战的。
Quote:
译者注：
注一：根据本人手中的资料，“回天”鱼雷的击沉战果为：万吨级货轮15艘，巡洋舰2艘，驱逐舰5艘，水上飞机母舰1艘，舰种不明6艘。总计击沉29艘，重创2艘。（资料来源为《战舰》第二期）
注二：这种自殺武器应是由日军“甲标的”袖珍潜艇改进而来的。
注三：该计划由汉娜.莱契与奥托.斯科尔兹尼提出，其中前者还进行了试飞。这种武器的型号为Fi103，以He111为发射母机，驾驶员在理论上可以跳伞逃生。德军配备给KG200的Fi103有175架，但无一参战。
注四：德国空军的“槲寄生”除了原作者列举的这一种以外还有其余版本，例如下图所示的Me262版本：
“槲寄生”的Me262版（模型图片）
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译后小记：原作者在文章的个别地方似乎有所错漏，例如回天鱼雷的战果并没有作者所说的那么小。诸如此类的错误之处，希望读者加以鉴别。
此外，如果文章在观点上与读者的思维相冲突，概因原文描述如此，与译者无关。
最后，仍然要感谢大家的支持。 原文如下：
Quote:
Japan's Kamikaze pilots and their suicide attacks on American warships
in the last year of World War 2, remain one of the most terrorizing
memories of this war. As I write this essay, three years after
terrorist suicide pilots killed thousands in New York and Washington,
and as suicide terrorists kill innocent civilians worldwide, it is
important to note that history clearly shows, that those who turned to
systematic use of suicide warfare, lost their war.
In addition to the Japanese Kamikaze pilots air campaign, the essay
also explores other suicide weapons and tactics in World War 2, and
the military and cultural rationale of suicide warfare, in order to
better understand this type of fanatic threat that the free world is
facing once again.
Kamikaze pilots - Japan's last weapon
Kamikaze, which means "Divine Wind" in Japanese, was Japan's last
attempt to balance the ever increasing technological and material
advantage of the American forces advancing to Japan. The Kamikaze
attack tactic was suggested on October 19, 1944, by vice-Admiral
Onishi of the Japanese Navy, when he was assigned to command the air
attacks against the huge American invasion fleet off the Philippines,
and then realized that he had less than 100 operational aircraft for
this task. There was no way to sink or even severely damage the
American fleet in any conventional tactic, so the Admiral needed a
force multiplier, a way to get a significantly greater striking power
from a given force.
The solution was obvious. Guided weapons provide dramatically greater
accuracy and lethality than unguided weapons, producing much greater
damage per weapon unit and per sortie. Such weapons already existed
and were operational for over a year then, but not in Japan. The
German Air Force successfully used large radio-guided Fritz-X bombs
against battleships and cruisers since September 1943, but Japan had
no such weapon, and therefore Admiral Onishi suggested that volunteer
pilots will guide their bomb-carrying aircraft all the way to an
explosive suicide collision with their American warship targets,
acting as a living guidance system, literally becoming "smart bombs".
The new tactic was adopted immediately. Large numbers of pilots,
initially qualified and experienced pilots and later air cadets with
minimal training who were asked to volunteer, were assigned to
"Special Attack" air wings, the official name of the Kamikaze units.
Their goal and motto was "One man - one ship".
To increase the Kamikaze pilots chance of successful penetration of
the American Navy's dense perimeter defense of fighters and
anti-aircraft ships, and reach the main ships in the center, most
desirably the aircraft carriers, the Japanese concentrated most of the
Kamikaze pilots attacks during the battle of Okinawa in ten large
attack waves of mixed Kamikaze and conventional attack aircraft, in an
attempt to saturate the American defenses. These large attack waves,
nicknamed Kikosui (floating Chrysanthemum), were also coordinated with
the Japanese naval and ground operations of the battle of Okinawa, the
war's last great battle.
In the first of these Kamikaze attack waves, 355 Kamikaze pilots
attacked the American fleet off Okinawa, together with 341
conventional attack aircraft, and in coordination with a naval attack
which included the super-battleship Yamato. The result of this massive
air strike was six sunk ships and ten severely damaged.
When Japan ran out of ordinary combat aircraft for Kamikaze attacks,
slow trainer aircraft were also used. Another aircraft used was the
Okha (cherry blossom), Japan's latest new weapon. The Okha was
specifically designed as a Kamikaze missile. It was a small
rocket-powered aircraft with a large 1200kg warhead in the nose, that
was carried by a bomber and dropped 20-30 miles from its target, where
its Kamikaze pilot ignited the rockets and streaked to its target. In
its final dive, the Okha reached a top speed of 576mph, much faster
than any other aircraft, but most Okhas were shot down by American
fighters before even being dropped from the carrying bombers.
A total of about 5000 Kamikaze pilots were launched, mostly in the
Battle of Okinawa, consuming much of the remaining human and material
resources of Japanese air power. The result of their effort was 36
sunk American ships and landing craft, and 368 damaged. The ferocity
of watching wave after wave of Kamikaze pilots hurtling down through a
dense hail of anti-aircraft fire, and the enormous fiery explosions
which followed, terrorized the Americans, but the Kamikaze campaign
failed to achieve its strategic goal of stopping the American advance,
and American air attacks were launched against the Kamikaze air bases
in southern Japan in order to reduce their numbers. Japan lost its
last battle despite the enormous sacrifice of its fanatic warriors,
and lost the war.
Other Kamikaze units and weapons
The Japanese desperate hope that suicide warfare is the way to avoid
defeat, led the Japanese army and Navy to adopt other suicide warfare
tactics and weapons. In military terms, the idea was similar in most
cases, to use a human to precisely guide a powerful explosive weapon
all the way to the target, in order to achieve a lethal direct hit,
and by doing so convert a simple weapon to a guided "smart bomb". The
Japanese used the following other suicide weapons and tactics, all
with lesser success than Kamikaze aircraft :
Explosive speed boats - a Japanese adoption of the original Italian
explosive speed boat. While the Italian naval commandos used explosive
speed boats equipped with special eject seats, the Japanese used them
as a suicide weapon. Thousands were produced but most were kept for
the expected invasion of Japan. They sank eight American ships. This
weapon was used several times after World War 2, both with eject seats
and and as a suicide weapon. The last recorded use was when on October
12, 2000, Al-Qaeda suicide terrorists used it to attack and severely
damage the American destroyer USS Cole in Aden, Yemen.
Suicide torpedoes - this weapon actually preceded the Kamikaze
aircraft. Called "Kaiten", these were enlarged torpedoes, fitted with
a tiny cockpit and periscope for a suicide operator, and with
additional fuel and oxygen and an enormous 3400lb (1530kg) warhead,
and launched from a specially modified submarine or a ship. Hundreds
were produced, but they sank just two American ships.
Suicide midget submarines - with a very high loss rate in their
original non-suicide use, a suicide model was developed, carrying
explosives instead of attached torpedoes.
Suicide divers carrying explosives - apparently saw little action and
only damaged one American landing craft.
Suicide infantrymen carrying anti-tank mines - the Japanese army's
suicide weapon. Their goal and motto was "One man - one tank".
In response to the American landing in Okinawa, which was expected to
be the last step before an invasion of Japan proper, the desperate
Japanese High Command ordered on April 6, 1945, that suicide warfare
tactics should be employed by ALL branches and units of the Japanese
armed forces. The next day, following this command, the Japanese
super-battleship Yamato, the largest battleship ever built and armed
with the largest guns ever, was sent to a one-way suicide mission in
Okinawa. Its purpose was not just to destroy as many American ships as
possible, but to also deliberately run aground in Okinawa so that it
would be impossible to sink it, so it will be able to continue to
fight until literally destroyed. The plan failed when the mighty
Yamato was spotted, and then sank by a massive air attack, before
reaching Okinawa.
Another suicide tactic used in this spirit was of fighter aircraft
ramming American heavy bombers instead of firing at them.
Nazi Germany also trained and operated suicide pilots shortly before
its defeat. The first German suicide unit, the Leonidas Squadron, was
established as a squadron of volunteers within the Luftwaffe's top
secret special missions air wing (KG200). Its weapon was a manned
version of the German jet-powered V-1 cruise missile. This unit
trained and reached an operational status, but an approval to use it
in combat was never given, mostly because of the availability of
Germany's other advanced air-to-ground weapons, that made its
operation an unnecessary loss of pilots lives. The German arsenal of
advanced air-to-ground weapons included radio-guided bombs,
radio-guided missiles, and the Mistel, an unmanned medium bomber with
a huge warhead in its nose, that was piloted by a pilot seated in the
cockpit of a fighter aircraft mounted over the unmanned bomber. After
guiding the bomber to its final dive at the target, the pilot detached
the fighter and flew back to base, while the unmanned bomber crashed
and exploded on the target. In a sharp contrast with minimally trained
suicide pilots, these unmanned bombers were successfully flown by very
experienced bomber pilots, who indeed achieved a relatively high
success rate, sinking ships and destroying strategic bridges.
The other German suicide unit, which did see combat action, was the
Luftwaffe's fighter wing 300 (JG300), that was ordered, shortly before
the end of the war, to use ramming tactic against allied heavy
bombers. This tactic was used just a few times and its success rate
was not high.
The military and cultural rationale of suicide warfare
The military rationale of suicide warfare of all types, both
historically and now, is simple. When planning attacks against what is
considered high value enemy targets, military planners often lack
truly adequate military resources required to achieve success. This
lack is normally bridged by resourcefulness and military talent, and
by a greater sacrifice of soldiers. But in extreme cases, and if the
mission is not cancelled due to extreme lack of resources, extreme
measures are required, measures which would not be used if better
alternatives were available. This is true both for a military planner
who plans to attack a military target, and for a terrorist leader who
plans to mass murder civilians.
As long as they had relatively significant military forces, even if
inadequate, the Japanese did not turn to suicide warfare. Sacrifice
yes, but not suicide. They switched to the Kamikaze suicide tactics
only when their disadvantage became so severe that even common
sacrifice of soldiers was simply not enough, and a radical new weapon
(guided missiles) was essential, and in its absence, they used the
Kamikaze pilots as a substitute.
This military rationale is the same with suicide terrorists. In
Al-Qaeda's first attack of the World Trade Center, the attackers used
a time-fuzed car bomb, not suicide drivers. Since that failed to
achieve the mission's goal, which later even expanded, and since
Al-Qaeda's arsenal does not include any cruise missiles or bomber
aircraft, their only way to destroy the World Trade Center and the
Pentagon with the resources they had, was to convert large civilian
aircraft to huge cruise missiles guided by suicide pilots.
The point that such extreme measures are used only when the military
planners estimate that this is their only alternative, and not just a
waste of highly motivated soldiers, is clearly demonstrated by the
selective use of suicide warfare by those who do or did use it. Two
examples :
Although the Germans trained suicide ground-attack pilots and prepared
their weapon for use, and although they did use suicide pilots against
heavy bombers, the Germans practically abandoned this weapon in favor
of the Mistel, a more promising and indeed successful unmanned
alternative.
After shocking the free world with a series of suicide attacks
worldwide, Al-Qaeda terrorists clearly demonstrated, by a series of
non-suicide attacks and mixed attacks, that although they are eager to
explode themselves, they do so only when they consider it essential.
The other key element of suicide warfare is the cultural rationale.
Suicide warfare is used only by human societies which face an
immediate threat that is perceived by them as being so severe that
they believe they are facing extinction, whether cultural or physical,
or a similar mass destruction.
In such a situation, surrender, or even a compromise with the enemy,
is simply not an option. And if the military situation is such that
suicide warfare is needed, then many soldiers who believe that they or
their families are doomed anyway, willingly volunteer for suicide
missions. It is not madness, it is a normal and rational behavior in
an extreme situation, that was either demonstrated or at least
theoretically accepted by ALL human cultures.
The most dangerous and tragic part in this rationale of suicide
warfare, is that the threat which push human societies to use suicide
warfare is perceived, and perception might be false, and can be
influenced. The Japanese public was brainwashed for years by its
fanatic militarist leaders to believe that a defeat, the first ever in
Japan's long history of isolation, would result in the extinction of
the Japanese people. The very heavy casualties of Japanese pilots
against a huge enemy force, that also killed countless numbers of
their friends and families back home with a vast fleet of heavy
bombers, further convinced numerous Japanese pilots that this threat
was real. With such perception of their situation, preferring to die a
little earlier as a Kamikaze pilot in order to save many others, was
an easy choice for many.
The threat doesn't even have to be military. For the fanatically
religious Al-Qaeda terrorists and their supporting population, with a
culture that is not just violently intolerant but also somewhat
xenophobic, as the Japanese were, foreign presence on their land, even
of civilians, and the penetration of foreign music, fashion,
literature, media, and particularly foreign modern ideas, are all
perceived as an intolerable cultural threat and even as a deliberate
attack. So they fight a holy World War against their perceived
enemies, and in the absence of their enemies' advanced guided weapons
and mighty military power, they do not hesitate at all to use suicide
warfare where considered necessary, to mass murder civilians, and to
buy flight tickets to their targets as a very convenient substitute to
long range weapons.
I'll finish this essay by reminding that history shows that all those
who systematically and repeatedly used suicide warfare lost their war,
and the explanation of that is simple. They used it because they were
significantly weaker than their enemies, technologically,
economically, and therefore eventually militarily, or otherwise they
would not have to fight like that.
[ 此贴被拿破仑皇帝在2008-02-24 14:59重新编辑 ]
