The conduct of war

The conduct of war

The conduct of war

This is the issue of how a war should be fought, rather than why or if it should be fought.

For a war to be a just war it must be fought according to certain rules - a war which is just in cause can be unjust in the way it is fought, or the other way around.

The concept of the just conduct of war has the latin name of Jus In Bello.

The principle topics concerned are:

• whom it is ethical to fight
• how much force it is ethical to use
• is the use of certain weapons always wrong?
• the role of international conventions on war

While the issues of when is it right to go to war are high level issues for governments, the issues of the conduct of war often end up on the desk of military commanders, or fall to the instant decision of individual soldiers.

Whom can you fight?

Is it immoral to involve civilians in a war? Who is, and who isn't, a combatant?

How much force can be used?

The force used should be 'proportional' or 'appropriate': the force needed to win, and no more.

So it is probably unethical to use a flame-thrower or a machine gun against an enemy who is armed only with clubs (although if these were the only weapons available and the alternative was surrendering and being killed, what then?).

It is certainly unethical to kill the soldiers of an army that has surrendered.

Weapons that are intrinsically evil

These are usually taken to be chemical and biological weapons. These were banned by the Geneva Protocol in 1925.

Many writers argue that nuclear weapons are inherently evil.

There is a growing view that landmines, because they are indiscriminate weapons which cause great harm to civilians, are inherently evil.

Certain military methods are also regarded as intrinsically evil such as genocide, mass rape, torture and so on.

The Hague Convention of 1907 bans:

• poison or poisoned weapons
• killing or wounding treacherously
• killing or wounding an enemy who, having laid down his arms, or having no longer means of defence, has surrendered at discretion
• declaring that no mercy will be given to defeated opponents
• using arms, projectiles, or material calculated to cause unnecessary suffering

International conventions

Where countries have signed a convention governing warfare, soldiers are considered to merit punishment if they break any of the rules in that convention.