[Submitted] *Silently Salutes*

[Chan Island]

Veteran soldiers are returning from frontline combat with what some say is an unhealthy respect for the enemy's beliefs.

Validity: warlike

[option] "I mean, credit where it's due..." reminisces @@RANDOMNAME@@, a medal-covered officer of the @@DENONYM@@ military. "They know how to fight, and they know why they fight. Once my squad captured an enemy captain, and they argued a really interesting, compelling case for why they were against us. Ended up playing football with him and his allies. Maybe we need to stop the war and start a dialogue. Might get us to realise that both sides have a point and not have a need to lose more lives..."
[effect] 'traitor' is a relative term

[option] "This is a very grave problem," asserts @@RANDOMNAME@@, a loyal supporter while shooing away the previous speaker. "Empathy for the enemy will diminish operational effectiveness - we need to demonise our opponents. We need extensive pre-op briefings and explaining why the enemy is evil. Some graphic informational pamphlets and poster should do the trick!
[effect] soldiers are issued comics about superheroes punching racist caricatures of their enemies

[option] "And yet our soldiers are still going to interact and talk to our enemies!" Cries @@RANDOMNAME@@, who's waving a handgun menacingly at a map on your wall. "See that? Big wide world, with lots of enemies! If our personnel keep interacting with them, we will have a mutiny on our hands! Tell the troops to execute all prisoners and to never interact with the local population. That way their corruption can't possibly spread within our ranks."
[effect] the army employs a "shoot first, shoot later" policy

[option] "The problem is that our soldiers are even interacting with the enemy's operatives at all," notes @@RANDOMNAME@@ while waving blue prints for an esoteric new weapon. "We should stay as far away from them as possible... and luckily, we have the tools to do so. Drones, ships, artillery, giant death robots, intercontinental ballistic missiles... no need to send infantry to go and secure an objective if we've already turned the objective into a big hole."
[effect] the military can't hear you over the sound of thundering artillery

[option] "Why does a man go fight and die?" pontificates @@RANDOMNAME@@, salesman from the Payday Goons, an infamous private security company. "Some maybe for a higher cause, or maybe their family or land. Yet a mercenary fights only for his pay. And how do you get an army of loyal, veteran, practical mercenaries?" He hands over a contract and golden pen with a wink. "Just be the man with the gold."
[effect] the army pay is to kill and die for

[option] "Commissars..." mutters @@RANDOMNAME@@, while moving around small painted toy soldiers on your table. "Roll for discipline. Fail? Bang! Morale check passed. Heresy extinguished. Good old commissars."
[effect] suicidal soldiers form opinions

[Australian rePublic]

Or just avoid letting them learning the language

[Candlewhisper Archive]

Veteran soldiers are returning from the nation's wars with an unhealthy respect for the enemy's beliefs.

Nice premise, but don't pass judgement in out-of-character text. Make it "with what some are regarding as an unhealthy respect"

[option] "I mean, credit where it's due..." reminisces @@RANDOMNAME@@, a medal-covered officer of the @@DENONYM@@ military. "They know how to fight, and they know why they fight. Once my squad captured an enemy captain, and they argued a really interesting, compelling case for why they were against us. Maybe we need to encourage compassion. Might get us to realise that both sides have a point and not have a need to lose more lives..."
[effect] enemy groups deploy their philosophers first

Encourage compassion how? Be more specific.
Effect line doesn't make much sense.

[option] "This is a very grave problem," asserts @@RANDOMNAME@@, a loyal supporter while shooing away the previous speaker. "If this continues, maybe all of our old veterans will start to sound like this. What we need is education in our armed forces. If we show both sides of the controversy, and explain why the other side is wrong, then our troops should be immune to their beguiling temptations."
[effect] basic training includes a political science course

This option kind of presumes that the enemy is always the same people. Maybe rephrase it to make it more operational rather than training related -- something along the lines of extended briefings before deployment into the field to understand why the other side is morally wrong.

[option] "And yet our soldiers are still going to interact and talk to our enemies!" Cries @@RANDOMNAME@@, who's waving a handgun menacingly at a map on your wall. "See that? Big wide world, with lots of enemies! If our personnel keep interacting with them, we will have a mutiny on our hands! Tell the troops to execute all prisoners. That way their corruption can't possibly spread within our ranks."
[effect] the army employs a "shoot first, then shoot 5 more times" policy

Maybe "execute all prisoners, and ban any fraternisation with local populations".

Effect line

[effect] the army employs a 'shoot first and shoot later' policy

[option] "The problem is that our soldiers are even interacting with the enemy's operatives at all," notes @@RANDOMNAME@@ while waving blue prints for an esoteric new weapon. "We should stay as far away as possible from them as possible... and luckily, we have the tools to do so. Drones, ships, artillery, giant death robots, intercontinental ballistic missiles... no need to send infantry to go and secure an objective if we've already turned the objective into a big hole."
[effect] the military can't hear you over the sound of their jet engines

Effect line feels weak, but amusing option.

[option] "Commissars..." mutters @@RANDOMNAME@@, while moving around small painted toy soldiers on your table. "Roll for discipline. Fail? Bang! Morale check passed. Heresy extinguished. Good old commissars."
[effect] "For the @@LEADER@@" has become the go-to battle cry

Heh, nice option. Again, effect line leaves a little to be desired.

[The Marsupial Illuminati]

What was the inspiration for this issue?

[Chan Island]

Veteran soldiers are returning from the nation's wars with an unhealthy respect for the enemy's beliefs.

Nice premise, but don't pass judgement in out-of-character text. Make it "with what some are regarding as an unhealthy respect"

[option] "I mean, credit where it's due..." reminisces @@RANDOMNAME@@, a medal-covered officer of the @@DENONYM@@ military. "They know how to fight, and they know why they fight. Once my squad captured an enemy captain, and they argued a really interesting, compelling case for why they were against us. Maybe we need to encourage compassion. Might get us to realise that both sides have a point and not have a need to lose more lives..."
[effect] enemy groups deploy their philosophers first

Encourage compassion how? Be more specific.
Effect line doesn't make much sense.

[option] "This is a very grave problem," asserts @@RANDOMNAME@@, a loyal supporter while shooing away the previous speaker. "If this continues, maybe all of our old veterans will start to sound like this. What we need is education in our armed forces. If we show both sides of the controversy, and explain why the other side is wrong, then our troops should be immune to their beguiling temptations."
[effect] basic training includes a political science course

This option kind of presumes that the enemy is always the same people. Maybe rephrase it to make it more operational rather than training related -- something along the lines of extended briefings before deployment into the field to understand why the other side is morally wrong.

[option] "And yet our soldiers are still going to interact and talk to our enemies!" Cries @@RANDOMNAME@@, who's waving a handgun menacingly at a map on your wall. "See that? Big wide world, with lots of enemies! If our personnel keep interacting with them, we will have a mutiny on our hands! Tell the troops to execute all prisoners. That way their corruption can't possibly spread within our ranks."
[effect] the army employs a "shoot first, then shoot 5 more times" policy

Maybe "execute all prisoners, and ban any fraternisation with local populations".

Effect line

[effect] the army employs a 'shoot first and shoot later' policy

[option] "The problem is that our soldiers are even interacting with the enemy's operatives at all," notes @@RANDOMNAME@@ while waving blue prints for an esoteric new weapon. "We should stay as far away as possible from them as possible... and luckily, we have the tools to do so. Drones, ships, artillery, giant death robots, intercontinental ballistic missiles... no need to send infantry to go and secure an objective if we've already turned the objective into a big hole."
[effect] the military can't hear you over the sound of their jet engines

Effect line feels weak, but amusing option.

[option] "Commissars..." mutters @@RANDOMNAME@@, while moving around small painted toy soldiers on your table. "Roll for discipline. Fail? Bang! Morale check passed. Heresy extinguished. Good old commissars."
[effect] "For the @@LEADER@@" has become the go-to battle cry

Heh, nice option. Again, effect line leaves a little to be desired.

Good calls. Implemented.

What was the inspiration for this issue?

Long story, but it started when D-day veterans this year went to Normandy and the men from both sides were filmed saying very nice things to each other.

From there the process of verisimilitude and making it more of an NS dillemma eventually went to here.

[Baggieland]

Could option 1 have them playing football? Like Christmas 1914?

[Krogon]

You use the phrase "the war" a bit too loosely in my opinion. Just because a nation is warlike, it doesn't mean they're necessarily involved in a war. Maybe somehow restate the instances where it says "the war." That being said, what if "the war" was already ended? In my opinion, this issue encroaches a bit too much, although I don't think it encroaches to the point where it can't be fixed with a bit of wording.

[Candlewhisper Archive]

Good point that. I'd suggest something like:

Veteran soldiers are returning from the frontline combat with what some say is an unhealthy respect for the enemy's beliefs.

That makes the timeframe vague, and also makes it vague as to whether the nation is at war.

[Chan Island]

Could option 1 have them playing football? Like Christmas 1914?

OK, I love this.

You use the phrase "the war" a bit too loosely in my opinion. Just because a nation is warlike, it doesn't mean they're necessarily involved in a war. Maybe somehow restate the instances where it says "the war." That being said, what if "the war" was already ended? In my opinion, this issue encroaches a bit too much, although I don't think it encroaches to the point where it can't be fixed with a bit of wording.

Good point that. I'd suggest something like:

Veteran soldiers are returning from the frontline combat with what some say is an unhealthy respect for the enemy's beliefs.

That makes the timeframe vague, and also makes it vague as to whether the nation is at war.

Good suggestion. Appropriate change made.

Also, when discussing this draft with somebody in real life, they suggested a mercenary army option. How are we feeling regarding that?

[Trotterdam]

Also, when discussing this draft with somebody in real life, they suggested a mercenary army option. How are we feeling regarding that?

Mercenaries are if anything more likely to sympathize with the enemy, since they have no particular loyalty to your nation and may well have in fact been on the enemy's payroll at some point in the past. Though I guess it could work as a "well, we can't stop soldiers from sympathizing with anyone, let's just make it official that soldiers aren't loyal to anything except money" option.

It's interesting to note that one reason for sympathizing with the enemy is that, when it comes down to it, soldiers from one nation and soldiers from another nation often have more in common with each other than they do with the civilians of either nation. You're all professionals working the same job, and (hopefully) abiding by the same rules of war.

[Candlewhisper Archive]

[option] "This is a very grave problem," asserts @@RANDOMNAME@@, a loyal supporter while shooing away the previous speaker. "If this continues, maybe all of our old veterans will start to sound like this. What we need is operational awareness. Extensive moral training in briefings and debriefings explaining why the enemy is evil, with homework, should do the trick!
[effect] tactical briefings includes a political science course

Reading this again, started thinking of the old WW2 comics where Superman is shown punching Nazis and Japanese people. Maybe this could work as a more flavoursome option?

[option] "This is a very grave problem," asserts @@RANDOMNAME@@, a loyal supporter while shooing away the previous speaker. "Empathy for the enemy will diminish operational effectiveness - we need to demonise our opponents. We need extensive briefings and explaining why the enemy is evil and maybe some informational pamphlets and posters. That should do the trick!
[effect] soldiers are issued comics about superheroes punching racist caricatures of their enemies

What do you think?

[Chan Island]

And after a long hiatus, let's get back to this.

Also, when discussing this draft with somebody in real life, they suggested a mercenary army option. How are we feeling regarding that?

Mercenaries are if anything more likely to sympathize with the enemy, since they have no particular loyalty to your nation and may well have in fact been on the enemy's payroll at some point in the past. Though I guess it could work as a "well, we can't stop soldiers from sympathizing with anyone, let's just make it official that soldiers aren't loyal to anything except money" option.

It's interesting to note that one reason for sympathizing with the enemy is that, when it comes down to it, soldiers from one nation and soldiers from another nation often have more in common with each other than they do with the civilians of either nation. You're all professionals working the same job, and (hopefully) abiding by the same rules of war.

True on all counts. I'll be adding a mercenary option then.

[option] "This is a very grave problem," asserts @@RANDOMNAME@@, a loyal supporter while shooing away the previous speaker. "If this continues, maybe all of our old veterans will start to sound like this. What we need is operational awareness. Extensive moral training in briefings and debriefings explaining why the enemy is evil, with homework, should do the trick!
[effect] tactical briefings includes a political science course

Reading this again, started thinking of the old WW2 comics where Superman is shown punching Nazis and Japanese people. Maybe this could work as a more flavoursome option?

[option] "This is a very grave problem," asserts @@RANDOMNAME@@, a loyal supporter while shooing away the previous speaker. "Empathy for the enemy will diminish operational effectiveness - we need to demonise our opponents. We need extensive briefings and explaining why the enemy is evil and maybe some informational pamphlets and posters. That should do the trick!
[effect] soldiers are issued comics about superheroes punching racist caricatures of their enemies

What do you think?

That looks like a lot of fun, sure! Editing now.