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The Laws of War: A Military View

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 September 2012

Extract

I served as a lieutenant in Vietnam. In June 1969, after being in the country for about ten days, I saw my first combat action and it was typically confusing. My platoon was on a reconnaissance mission as part of a larger force when some members of the unit saw a few Vietcong soldiers and began to pursue them through the jungle and marshland countryside. The enemy soldiers were quickly cornered, one was captured, and at least two more cowered in a streambed about 100 yards away. In circumstances I do not fully understand to this day, there was gunfire, many vehicles raced back and forth, and the two radios I was required to monitor broadcast a confusion of chatter. Suddenly, on the higher command radio, I heard the voice of our colonel: “Stop shooting; that's murder,” he ordered. The soldiers did stop shooting, the prisoners were secured, and we continued our mission. But that single, short order had great impact on me. It taught me more than any schoolhouse instruction ever could have about the laws of war and how professional soldiers behave in combat.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs 2002

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References

1 Department of Defense Directive 5100.77, DoD Law of War Program December 9, 1998Google Scholar.

2 One combatant commander is the commander of Central Command, the organization fighting the war in AfghanistanGoogle Scholar.

3 CJCJSI 5810.01A, Implementation of the DOD Law of War Program August 27,1999.Google Scholar

4 U.S. Army Field Manual 27–10, The Law of Land Warfare, July 15, 1976Google Scholar.

6 Paragraph 14–3, Army Regulation 340–41, Training in Units March 19, 1993. Guidance with respect to how to teach these rules requires instructors to “stress their military and moral importance.”Google Scholar