And Cent is running roughshod over them, presumably for a reason. I'm hoping it's because Cent thinks Lynn needs to understand what Cent has to deal with, politically. We shall see.
It looks like CentComm's direct answers have caught Lynn a little flat footed, and she has paused in her verbal outburst. Maybe long enough for her to listen?
The instrumentation in the last panel even shows a couple of common oscilloscope lissajous figures! :D
I doubt it megados. Lynn still has plenty of FRUSTRATION to vent. It hasn't sunk in yet to Lynn that she is safe. That because she is safe, she can truly vent. Once it hits her, it could be wet... as the waterworks go to full!
Yes she is frustrated, extremely so. I was thinking that CentComm may have jostled her thoughts momentarily, so as to break her concentration on her frustration. Her reaction in the last panel seems to indicate that she has given pause, at least. If it's enough, it might reduce her momentum. You're right; it may mean she could well break down. She really needs that release, I think.
I'm thinking not enough, megados. She was too wound up to be set back for long, I fear. She needs some kind of release to let it all out. That actually may be why the psych-tech doesn't want Lynn around Acantha. Because then she has someone else to focus on and she won't LET all of it out. She'll keep it bottled up inside, eating away at her while she has someone else to focus on, distracting her from her own needs.
I'm thinking Lynn doesn't feel fully safe yet. She feels hedged about with "unfriendly"-seeming behaviors: restricting her freedom, separating her from those she considers friends, pushing her to "expose" her feelings. It may be intended for her own good, but she doesn't see that.
You would also think, considering how many sims per picosecond that Cent can run, that *years* ago, she would have run a few sims on the capabilities of her neighbors, found a non-zero chance that one of them might be problematic, and insinuated multiple moles with deep cover into all levels of society in Nova Roma. The best door to go through is neither the front door or the back door, but a secret door, opened from the inside.
Cent should never have needed to send forces in to knock down the gates and blow crap up. She should have had resources in place, ready to go, the moment that Lynn's flyer went down.
Either Cent is dramatically overstating her capabilities to maintain her position of superiority, or she herself is in some way damaged like Aeneus, unable to properly use all her facilities in logical ways to prevent problems before the problem-makers are even born.
(Of course, if Cent was as capable as she logically should be, then there would be no story to tell, so shut up, Thor, it's artistic license. Go back to detailing the utter impossibility of the Harry Potter universe instead.)
The establishment in place of illegal covert operatives in a foreign nation-state is espionage and constitutes, in itself, a possible act of war. Presumably CentComm's rules of engagement do not permit such actions unless approved in advance by New Troy's ruling council, or their subcommittee on Intelligence Operations.
Generally it's a bad idea to treat people like scum and dirt, just because you are afraid that they might attack you at some indeterminate future time. CentComm probably requested increased funding for HUMINT operations every year, and every year was denied when the final budget was approved. ^_^
She had an active role in the creation of Aeneas, which should have insured that New Troy's interests and Nova Roma's didn't conflict. However, Aeneas was bypassed, and that neutralized Centcom's preventive measures. I believe this was one of those all the eggs in one basket cases.
Absolutely not! They don't want to get caught at it, any more than anybody else does. But, as we can tell by the furor in the news every time they get caught at it, they are at risk every time they do. It helps to be a big enough bully that most people are very reluctant to go to war with you. It's also why the larger nation states have evolved "The Grand Game" with its unwritten rules and established traditions: to draw the lines between what is 'acceptable' espionage, and what is not.
Side note: if the reason you want to spy on someone is because you think they are a mentally unstable and deadly opponent, you really don't want to get caught at it, since the same reasons you want to spy are the very things that make it more likely that war breaks out if you are caught.
"It helps to be a big enough bully that most people are very reluctant to go to war with you."
It helps even more to so much of an anti-bully that you won't go war with anyone (even little bitty nobody stakes you could knock over in a week) over it, even when they are caught multiple times performing egregious acts of espionage, as we have caught several other countries multiple times doing in the last few years.
I'm not suggesting that the USA is any worse than many other nations. I am trying to keep real-world politics out of this, except as a historical reference. I am pointing out that what someone can and can't get away with as far as 'acts of war' does depend, in part, on their position in the World Pecking Order. And also, as you point out @Deoxy, how much goodwill they may have established in the world community.
But espionage is still espionage. People who suggest that 'those we like' may practice it with impunity while 'those we don't like' should have a zero-tolerance policy enforced on them are ... naïve, in my opinion.
Ah, that reminds me of the time when USA realized that their spies in Denmark (an allied nation no less) which was spying on Danish spies, were also being spied on by spies *from* Denmark, just because they *knew* that the US had spies in their country, and wanted to know what they were up to.
The Danish counterspies were "terribly sorry", they were after all not supposed to be noticed. XD
But yeah, they had known all along.
Good thing it didn't become too heated.
"The Danish counterspies were "terribly sorry", they were after all not supposed to be noticed."
For some reason, this cracked me up so hard that my sides hurt. I'm imagining a lovely fruit basket being delivered to the U.S. spy HQ with a politely apologetic note tied to the handle.
There were rumors that the russian spies thought that the Danes had shown themselves on purpose, to "scare off" the American spies.
And that they had a field day with it .. until they found out that the Danish counterspies had pictures of them as well.
But that was just rumors.
The best thing about this whole shebang, is that Denmark is a tiny country, and the whole spy-business generally pass them by, they just don't have the budget - So normally the big countries don't have to worry about them.
- BUT -
Since the country is so small, they pretty much know each and every spy in the country, on a first name basis. Which makes it decidedly difficult to infiltrate.
Heck, if anyone start to act even slightly suspicious, they probably already knew about that person, because the bakers, mistres' mum saw them skulk about in a back alley, and told them.
They have a scary good rumor mill going on.
On a sidenote, this whole "terribly sorry" attitude seems to seep through to "military command" as well, in regards to the "war" between Denmark and Canada over Hans Island - Basically, it goes a bit like this !
And to think that they have technically been at war since 1988 ... AND WE STILL ARE !! XD
And all we ever do, is replace each others flags and whisky - Hilarious. :)
I know the wiki says that they have split the island - But i happen to know that they still haven't settles on the new borders, meaning that they haven't committed to it yet.
Interestingly, there's an internet meme floating around about the war over Hans Island, with a caption something like "This is how civilized countries fight." :D
That's hilarious.
Only ones I had seen, was Hans Island, with two military boats on each side and the caption "For 15 years, these two proud nations have been playing capture the flag ... with whisky as reward. The Captains are understandably a bit worn out by now, though more because of the booze than the flag." :D
Oh I get all that centy but sadly I am human and well......still mad about ceci, and waiting for someone to call you on that spike fiasco *coughrosecough*
I think that from the name and context, we can assume that they're some sort of killbot. Since they come in such large numbers and Cent deems them overly destructive, I think it's somewhat likely that they're swarm-assault bots with very little individual computational power or awareness. In any case, activating them is something even Cent is hesitant to do, even when considering a situation where a nuclear strike is also a consideration. Given that, is any more information really necessary?
Well, you can see a "Reaper" backing up Centcom in Calliopie's front entry way back when Dolly's message was being delivered. I suppose a "Reaver" would be a step up.
There's historical precedent for that, and a fairly famous one...the USAF/CIA joint project that the Air Force designated "Reconnaissance (Strategic) type 71" (RS-71) got a fast and famous retyping when the President flipped the letters.
Yes, Lynn, she considered killing a lot more people and decided not to. She also hasn't explained fortunately why she would be willing to go to those great lengths to prevent Lynn from falling in the wrong hands.
Is "terrorism" really the right term to apply for hostile actions by another sovereign state?
Commie bringing up bargaining seems like a straw-man argument, since Lynn probably wasn't thinking of that as an alternative option... In fact I don't think she was really thinking about realistic options at all :-) (But then again, she doesn't know that leaving her to her own devices was never an option, for reasons...)
Re: Terrorism being the right term to apply to hostile actions by another sovereign state.
Short answer - YES.
Justification for answer: Nanking, Bergen-Belsen, Nazi Germany's "V" weapons as a group, and a host of others. Deliberate acts that targeted civilians by design. The difference between "Acts of Terrorism" and "War Crimes" is largely one of semantics, not results.
You certainly have a point about results. (Though I wouldn't put abduction on the same footing as mass murder...)
However, Cent-Comm didn't strike me as someone who would casually gloss over semantic distinctions in her choice of words, just to bring across a point :-)
I think CentComm used it intentionally and properly, antrik. Remember what Douchimus was after, CentComm's weapon vaults. Things so terrible that CentComm locked them away so they wouldn't be used again. Lynn was merely the pry bar to get to them! Trying to gain such weapons for someone that would readily USE them (and we both know Douchimus would use them) is about as terrifying as it gets!
"The difference between "Acts of Terrorism" and "War Crimes" is largely one of semantics, not results."
In a "total war" situation, "acts of terrorism" were indeed carried out by nation states against each other, but they were also generally of a scale as to be militarily useful, as well, and unless I'm just remembering incorrectly, they were not the basis of "war crimes" claims after the fact.
"War crimes" prosecuted thus far in modern history generally are NOT "acts of terrorism" - acts of genocide, for instance, aren't terrorism (impotent THREATS of genocide can be terrorism, but actually doing it doesn't cause fear, as all the victims are dead).
There is some overlap, in some cases, but on the whole, they are noticeably different.
Looking for definitions, there are several variations on this:
"The use of violence or the threat of violence, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political goals"
That captures it decently well, I think - hostage taking with some kind of political demand would fit, but hostage taking with "get me a helicopter and $1million" would not.
Generally, there is a certain level of coercion of the masses via fear ("terror") implied, using means that would not be sufficient for a pure military demand (a believable demand of "Surrender or I will bomb your country into oblivion" would be war, but "Surrender or I will detonate a small bomb in a crowded shopping mall every few weeks" would be terrorism - militarily, it would be insignificant).
That said, the word has been WAY WAY WAY over-used in the last 10-20 years, so the meaning has gotten a bit... mushy.
Political Terminology -
Act of Terrorism: When "they" do it to us.
Act of Reprisal: When "we" do it to them.
War Crimes: Actions taken by the losers in a conflict that result in civilian casualties.
Strategic Warfare: Actions taken by the winners in a conflict that result in civilian casualties.
The last panel, right behind security head. Looks like the wave form from Space 1999 when the computer screen switch on right after a communication with one party talks to Main Control.
I actually agree with centcom on this. She had the choice to kill potentially millions or risk far fewer lives.
We do not know truly how Cent sees people, but we know she is one of the AIS that stopped the killing in the great wars. She must deem them to be of some value. She has even seemed to form some kind of attachment to the Taylor family beyond the limitations of keeping her keys alive as she told one of her angels that to keep badmouthing the Taylor would have consequences.
We just don't know enough about her personal POV to really understand how she sees people.
The instrumentation in the last panel even shows a couple of common oscilloscope lissajous figures! :D
...yeah, I sent some instead of waltzing everything into the ground...
Cent should never have needed to send forces in to knock down the gates and blow crap up. She should have had resources in place, ready to go, the moment that Lynn's flyer went down.
Either Cent is dramatically overstating her capabilities to maintain her position of superiority, or she herself is in some way damaged like Aeneus, unable to properly use all her facilities in logical ways to prevent problems before the problem-makers are even born.
(Of course, if Cent was as capable as she logically should be, then there would be no story to tell, so shut up, Thor, it's artistic license. Go back to detailing the utter impossibility of the Harry Potter universe instead.)
Generally it's a bad idea to treat people like scum and dirt, just because you are afraid that they might attack you at some indeterminate future time. CentComm probably requested increased funding for HUMINT operations every year, and every year was denied when the final budget was approved. ^_^
Side note: if the reason you want to spy on someone is because you think they are a mentally unstable and deadly opponent, you really don't want to get caught at it, since the same reasons you want to spy are the very things that make it more likely that war breaks out if you are caught.
It helps even more to so much of an anti-bully that you won't go war with anyone (even little bitty nobody stakes you could knock over in a week) over it, even when they are caught multiple times performing egregious acts of espionage, as we have caught several other countries multiple times doing in the last few years.
But yes, the "Grand Game" bit is part of it.
But espionage is still espionage. People who suggest that 'those we like' may practice it with impunity while 'those we don't like' should have a zero-tolerance policy enforced on them are ... naïve, in my opinion.
The Danish counterspies were "terribly sorry", they were after all not supposed to be noticed. XD
But yeah, they had known all along.
Good thing it didn't become too heated.
For some reason, this cracked me up so hard that my sides hurt. I'm imagining a lovely fruit basket being delivered to the U.S. spy HQ with a politely apologetic note tied to the handle.
And that they had a field day with it .. until they found out that the Danish counterspies had pictures of them as well.
But that was just rumors.
The best thing about this whole shebang, is that Denmark is a tiny country, and the whole spy-business generally pass them by, they just don't have the budget - So normally the big countries don't have to worry about them.
- BUT -
Since the country is so small, they pretty much know each and every spy in the country, on a first name basis. Which makes it decidedly difficult to infiltrate.
Heck, if anyone start to act even slightly suspicious, they probably already knew about that person, because the bakers, mistres' mum saw them skulk about in a back alley, and told them.
They have a scary good rumor mill going on.
On a sidenote, this whole "terribly sorry" attitude seems to seep through to "military command" as well, in regards to the "war" between Denmark and Canada over Hans Island - Basically, it goes a bit like this !
And to think that they have technically been at war since 1988 ... AND WE STILL ARE !! XD
And all we ever do, is replace each others flags and whisky - Hilarious. :)
I know the wiki says that they have split the island - But i happen to know that they still haven't settles on the new borders, meaning that they haven't committed to it yet.
Only ones I had seen, was Hans Island, with two military boats on each side and the caption "For 15 years, these two proud nations have been playing capture the flag ... with whisky as reward. The Captains are understandably a bit worn out by now, though more because of the booze than the flag." :D
Either way, the battle consists of buying each other a bottle every now and again. XD
*edit: Found it!
100% agreement on that one.
Commie bringing up bargaining seems like a straw-man argument, since Lynn probably wasn't thinking of that as an alternative option... In fact I don't think she was really thinking about realistic options at all :-) (But then again, she doesn't know that leaving her to her own devices was never an option, for reasons...)
Short answer - YES.
Justification for answer: Nanking, Bergen-Belsen, Nazi Germany's "V" weapons as a group, and a host of others. Deliberate acts that targeted civilians by design. The difference between "Acts of Terrorism" and "War Crimes" is largely one of semantics, not results.
However, Cent-Comm didn't strike me as someone who would casually gloss over semantic distinctions in her choice of words, just to bring across a point :-)
In a "total war" situation, "acts of terrorism" were indeed carried out by nation states against each other, but they were also generally of a scale as to be militarily useful, as well, and unless I'm just remembering incorrectly, they were not the basis of "war crimes" claims after the fact.
"War crimes" prosecuted thus far in modern history generally are NOT "acts of terrorism" - acts of genocide, for instance, aren't terrorism (impotent THREATS of genocide can be terrorism, but actually doing it doesn't cause fear, as all the victims are dead).
There is some overlap, in some cases, but on the whole, they are noticeably different.
"The use of violence or the threat of violence, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political goals"
That captures it decently well, I think - hostage taking with some kind of political demand would fit, but hostage taking with "get me a helicopter and $1million" would not.
Generally, there is a certain level of coercion of the masses via fear ("terror") implied, using means that would not be sufficient for a pure military demand (a believable demand of "Surrender or I will bomb your country into oblivion" would be war, but "Surrender or I will detonate a small bomb in a crowded shopping mall every few weeks" would be terrorism - militarily, it would be insignificant).
That said, the word has been WAY WAY WAY over-used in the last 10-20 years, so the meaning has gotten a bit... mushy.
Act of Terrorism: When "they" do it to us.
Act of Reprisal: When "we" do it to them.
War Crimes: Actions taken by the losers in a conflict that result in civilian casualties.
Strategic Warfare: Actions taken by the winners in a conflict that result in civilian casualties.
Acceptable losses: THEIR civilian casualties
Unacceptable losses: OUR civilian casualties
We do not know truly how Cent sees people, but we know she is one of the AIS that stopped the killing in the great wars. She must deem them to be of some value. She has even seemed to form some kind of attachment to the Taylor family beyond the limitations of keeping her keys alive as she told one of her angels that to keep badmouthing the Taylor would have consequences.
We just don't know enough about her personal POV to really understand how she sees people.