General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Like it or Not, Bradley Manning is a Traitor [View all]ljm2002
(10,751 posts)...either there are rules, or there are not.
I can see the point of view that it is absurd to have rules in war. War is a nasty, deadly business. Rationality flies out the window and life is cheaper than dirt in war. Revenge is not an abstraction when you see your own friends blown to pieces. The object is to "win" (whatever that means), and "winning" means killing as many of your designated enemies as possible, apparently.
On the other hand, we hear all the time about how the other side (be it Iraquis, or the Syrian government, or...) have broken the rules, showing how evil they are: "He gassed his own people!" (with gas bought from us) being the canonical example when talking about Saddam Hussein and the Iraq war.
We signed up to be bound by rules of war. Either we follow the rules we signed up for, or we do not. If we do not choose to be bound by rules we ourselves have signed up for, then there is no moral high ground, and we cannot turn around and expect others to be bound by any rules.
The commission of an aggressive and illegal invasion was the very first war crime of the Iraq war. You want to talk about lots of people killed with bombs? Then you need look no further than Shock and Awe. Thousands of people, many of them civilians, were killed in that action alone.
If you don't think what those gunners did was so bad; then why do you think the video makes us look like bad guys?
I don't expect to convince you but this is how I see it.
BTW here is Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, that talks about the wounded:
Art. 3. In the case of armed conflict not of an international character occurring in the territory of one of the High Contracting Parties, each Party to the conflict shall be bound to apply, as a minimum, the following provisions:
(1) Persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms and those placed hors de combat by sickness, wounds, detention, or any other cause, shall in all circumstances be treated humanely, without any adverse distinction founded on race, colour, religion or faith, sex, birth or wealth, or any other similar criteria.
To this end, the following acts are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever with respect to the above-mentioned persons:
(a) violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture;
(b) taking of hostages;
(c) outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment;
(d) the passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgement pronounced by a regularly constituted court, affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples.
(2) The wounded and sick shall be collected and cared for.
An impartial humanitarian body, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, may offer its services to the Parties to the conflict.
The Parties to the conflict should further endeavour to bring into force, by means of special agreements, all or part of the other provisions of the present Convention.
The application of the preceding provisions shall not affect the legal status of the Parties to the conflict.