The Cellar - View Single Post - 3/30/2003: US soldier carries injured Iraqi soldier

russotto · 03-31-2003, 12:20 PM

The sad thing is that they're depending on the USs relative decency in order to commit these acts. The ideas of certain actions as war crimes didn't come about for any noble purpose -- it started as pure tit-for-tat self-interest.

You don't execute POWs because you don't want the other side to execute YOUR POWs; after all, you want those people back after the war, to fight the next one or perhaps to do heavy lifting in civilian fields.

You don't disguise your troops as civilians because you don't want to give the other side reason to slaughter your real civilians.

You don't fake surrenders because in doing so you invite the enemy not to accept your surrender, should the war go badly.

The Iraqi leaders know the US won't respond to POW executions by executing Iraqi POWs. They know the US won't start slaughtering their civilians (and they probably wouldn't care much if we did). And they'd probably love it if the US stopped accepting surrenders, because it would force their own regulars to fight to the last man.

03-31-2003, 12:20 PM	#16
russotto Professor Join Date: Jan 2001 Posts: 1,788	"War crimes" The sad thing is that they're depending on the USs relative decency in order to commit these acts. The ideas of certain actions as war crimes didn't come about for any noble purpose -- it started as pure tit-for-tat self-interest. You don't execute POWs because you don't want the other side to execute YOUR POWs; after all, you want those people back after the war, to fight the next one or perhaps to do heavy lifting in civilian fields. You don't disguise your troops as civilians because you don't want to give the other side reason to slaughter your real civilians. You don't fake surrenders because in doing so you invite the enemy not to accept your surrender, should the war go badly. The Iraqi leaders know the US won't respond to POW executions by executing Iraqi POWs. They know the US won't start slaughtering their civilians (and they probably wouldn't care much if we did). And they'd probably love it if the US stopped accepting surrenders, because it would force their own regulars to fight to the last man.