The military do not really come off as douchebags. If you look at the trailer for Episode 6 they still seem to try and rescue their civilian employees. And they probably thought they could hold out but needed "Operation Cobalt" to secure some kind of hope even if it means killing civilians who are in a potential hotzone.

Also their low numbers made them go for extreme shifts.

What happended in the arena anyway? The first camp? I think thing escalate it to quickly. What happended to the millions of population in the city? Evacuated, fled? Dead?

 

I know this is a TV show but let's do a reality check. In real life, under martial law, does the military have unlimited power to do whatever they like, especially the things shown in these episodes? Are all human rights suspended? Is the US Constitution still valid? Is ''humane termination'' 'legal'?

Instead of 'humane termination', why dont just give the civilians a chance to fight for their own lives? Just educate them: all are infected. If you die, you will turn whatever the cause is. Avoid the bites. Headshot kills zombies.

 

What we don't know is what contact they actually have with their command structure. In their minds, I'm quite certain, any civilian left alive is another walker they'll have to shoot later.

The scene with Travis at the Humvee was illustrative of this...he's still stuck in an "old world" mindset. He couldn't shoot the walker because, to him, she was still a human being. Part of the squad understood, part did not. A division among the military has been shown...some think they can do whatever they want, some are less than certain of that.

 

I really don't see the point of operation cobalt. When it was given, the military was still in control, and you're telling soldiers that they're going to have to shoot all their neighbors when things go South? That's got to be a morale killer. Why NOT just leave and leave the civilians to their own devices?

 

Precisely my thought. If the military cannot defend the civilians, just leave and let the civilians defend themselves. At least the civilians might have a chance on their own. Some of them are bound to survive.

 

I'm still not convinced that Cobalt involves killing all the people. Maddie doesn't say "what happens to us", she says "what happens to our people". Now, she could mean the whole safe zone, but Maddie doesn't strike me as being civil-minded the way Travis is. I think she means Nick, Griselda, and Liza. Maybe Cobalt involves exterminating the likely cases in the medical center and simply abandoning the safe zones. If there is a plan to kill everyone, there's no way in hell it's going to be carried out on the ground via the National Guard guys. They'd use a bomb or something, like in Atlanta.

 

I didn't take as an order to kill everyone upon evacuation, just those who are threats or potential threats. I guess eliminating threats is better than nothing when you're bailing on the people.
I'm wondering if they're evacuating now because they can't retake the city and they're going to obliterate instead.

 

I think he said '' humane termination of....'' . Of what? he did not say as I suppose he is too shameful to say it...or the writers purposefully do not make it clear to keep us guessing?

 

Thats why I'm wondering if they are preparing to bomb the area. If they are just going to have soldiers gun them down, what are they waiting on? Why cage them take temps and waste resources on them?

 

Yes, I assumed that Operation Cobalt means bombing the area. On the main show, when we saw the flashback of the group stuck on the highway (I can't remember which episode at the moment), we saw the military bomb Atlanta. And again, last season, those napalmed walkers that were stuck to the road were in an area that had been a gathering place for evacuation. I think it's the government's last-ditch attempt to contain the virus by wiping out the infected areas, especially high-population urban areas, and any non-infected who die are collateral damage.

 

I took it to mean killing everyone at risk in the hospital. We've already seen soldiers letting Travis go even when they were defecting, I can't see them going into camp at trying to shoot everyone. What's the point at that point? Save the ammo for yourself and don't risk getting shot by another citizen.