3refs and EmmaB, why shocked? Why disgusted?

Sharpshooting is in principle no different from say dropping a bomb on an enemy position, or throwing a grenade into an enemy's bunker.

Now if you're saying you're shocked at war in itself, that's fair enough, I suppose, but your reactions in this case are specifically referable to the sharpshooting video.

Sharpshooting is really no different from other weapon use. Indeed, since the very point of sharpshooting is the precision application of force based on the high expertise of the shooter, it's much more humane in its potential than either the bomb or the grenade referred to in the previous paragraph, since those weapons are much more likely to cause harm to uninvolved bystanders.

If you object to a soldier's being able to kill an enemy from a fairly remote distance, you are about five hundred years behind the times, and need to abolish firearms entirely--Actually, farther back than that: The cross-bow and the longbow are pre-firearms, and were objected to on the same basis. You need to go back to hand to hand combat, with swords and axes.

If you have a way to abolish war entirely, go ahead. And lots of luck!

Dave Oesterreich