Can Restraint Be As Courageous As Action? | It’s A Question Of Balance 23 May 2015

Broadcast on 23 May 2015 on KSCO AM 1080, KOMY AM 1340 and KSCO.com Live Stream.

'It's A Question Of Balance' is a two hour show which balances the intellectual with the creative. The show combines a debate topic with an arts interview because discussion and creativity are two of the most vital ways we engage in the world. 

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Out And About – Conversations with People on the Street about Questions That Matter: Can Restraint Be As Courageous As Action?

This week we consider ‘Can Restraint Be As Courageous As Action?’ A few years back a British soldier Maj. Gen. Nick Carter, who at the time was in charge of the international forces in southern Afghanistan, suggested that soldiers could someday be awarded medals for restraint that prevents civilian casualties in combat. This followed a strategic protocol put in place by the British army called Courageous Restraint, where there were a strict set of criteria that had to be met to fire on targets so that civilian deaths were limited. The absolute opposite of ‘shoot first ask questions later’. Both the protocol and the medal suggestion valued the concept that to hold fire and more fully assess a situation may increase the danger for the soldier and thus require courage. Does this kind of restraint seem courageous to you? If so, do you think a medal is an appropriate way to honour this kind of courage? Would it perhaps help change the mindset of how a conflict can be won if acts of restraint were equally honoured with action? Why does action seem to be valued so much more highly than restraint? Do you think this idea of courageous restraint would also be of benefit within American society, for example in our police force?

What do you think? Ruth Copland gets the views of people on the street for our Out and About feature. 

For more info on the show and to hear shows with other topics and arts guests visit www.itsaquestionofbalance.com