I’m with Robb on this. It’s barbaric and no one should be burned alive. I also strongly believe in good POW treatment (though, obviously, ISIS is not a party to the Geneva conventions.)
But pilots are more hated than virtually anyone. They kill and maim (and often burn people to death) and they do it with what seems like complete impunity. The Afghans used to throw Soviet pilots to the women, and, well, you don’t really want to think about what happened to them.
Pilots aren’t given sidearms to kill the enemy with if they are shot down. They’re given sidearms to kill themselves.
The Kipling rule applies: always save the last bullet, for yourself.
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