War crimes and criminals

[ShadoWarrior]

Originally Posted by Mohoender

What is funny is the silly current idea implying that professional armies are superior to conscripts. Over history, Professional armies often ends up being defeated by armies composed by a majority of conscripts and volunteers.

It's not a silly idea. It happens to be true. The only times that professional soldiers get defeated on the field is when they are swamped by overwhelmingly superior numbers (hence Stalin's famous remark about quantity having a quality all its own), or when generals make really stupid mistakes.

Originally Posted by Mohoender

The British expeditionary force defeated by Germany in 1940 during the military campaign in France.

Due to bad strategy & bad tactics by the Allies. And the Germans were an entirely volunteer, professional army, the best in the world at that time, which doubly refutes your assertion.

Originally Posted by Mohoender

The more professional (not entirely professional so), well equipped Arabic forces defeated by Israel in 1948.

The Arab armies at that time were not professionals, they were mostly conscript. They lost mostly due to bad leadership and bad planning. The Israelis had better, more experienced officers. The Arab armies were defeated in detail. Had the attacks been better coordinated and pressed more aggressively, the Israelis would have lost. They came very close to losing.

Originally Posted by Mohoender

The thing with conscripts resides in motivation. Conscripts fight for their homes and families (In 1941, the situation started to move in favor of the Soviets only when Stalin asked its troops to fight for mother Russia, they didn't give shit about the communist party). As long as you can convince conscripts that the reason of their fight is just and fair, they fight to death.

Ever heard of the NKVD (forerunner to the KGB)? The conscript armies were "motivated" by having NKVD artillery battalions behind each division, whose sole purpose was to fire on any troops that considered retreating. When you're told go fight the enemy or you will be shot, you take your chances with the enemy as you know the alternative is a certain death.

Originally Posted by Mohoender

While conscripts are heroes fighting for the Nation (or whatever it may be), professional soldiers are just that, professional soldiers.

They aren't all "heroes". They have no choice. Heroes choose to fight. Sane people, whether professional or conscript, follow the instinct to preserve their skins.

Originally Posted by Mohoender

While I have never seen entirely conscripted armies winning over a professional one, I have often seen professional armies loosing over an army composed of a strong core of professionals reinforced by a mass of conscript.

Tactically, the professional Germans repeatedly cut through the considerably larger conscript armies of Stalin. It was bad leadership (by Hitler) that lost the Germans the war. The Coalition forces cut through larger opposing Iraqi forces in the Gulf War with even more ease. Given a choice, conscripts surrender rather than fight. Happened in 1941, and 50 years later in 1991. Both the Russians and Iraqis had a "strong core of professionals reinforced by a mass of conscript". And they lost. Such armies only win when the other side is incompetent.