Half Measures

I've mentioned Ender's Game before, but for those who haven't read it or missed the post I wrote about it, I'm going to reiterate. Because it matters.

The scene in the book that matters concerns Ender as a young boy, constantly bullied. He is attacked by an older child, and Ender beats the other kid and leaves him on the ground. Then Ender kicks the bully over and over again until the child is a mass of blood and bruises. Ender points out later that his reason for doing so wasn't that he was vicious--he hated what he'd done--but because he didn't just need to win that one fight. He needed to win all the ones after it.

Fear is a powerful motivator, but it only works if the enemy knows you're serious. It's a huge reason the Japanese surrendered only after the second atomic bomb was dropped. Once wasn't enough fear. Anyone can act out once. But when the second bomb fell, every person in that nation knew that the United States was not in the business of dicking around.

Neither is New Haven. We've compromised and used half-measures for too long. No more. We're in a position to remove threats permanently, and we've got the allies to help us do it.

I would be lying if I said it doesn't still irk me to be left out of the loop about some things, but yesterday morning I was told the full details of an operation to stop the Hunters from moving against us or anyone else. I was asked to wait until today to explain in detail, but I'm going to give the full rundown on it tomorrow. Today I have to sort through all the reports about the attack along with all the records given to me concerning the planning and coordination of it.

It's a lot of stuff to sort through. I know this post is short and wonky, but I needed to give you all some kind of introduction to what I'll be writing tomorrow. Context is crucial in this case. We've been the victims of systematic attacks by the Hunters, a few of which I've mentioned but there were others I've just learned about, and we are fully justified in our actions. And remember as you read tomorrow's post that these people coldly destroyed community after community. Decisive action was required.

It's not going to be easy for you to read. I'm not looking forward to writing it. There are limits to what kinds of terrible discoveries we can deal with as human beings, and some of the stuff in the file I was handed about this attack...stays with you. Not for the squeamish.

So consider this post a big disclaimer. Tomorrow you get the full Monty. It'll be bad. But we didn't have much choice. Keep that in mind, please.