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Originally Posted by filtherton
What are these rules?
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http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/wars/a/loac.htm has a good overview
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Who enforces the law of armed conflict?
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we do. it's self-enforced for our our enemy's protection as well as our own when the tables are turned.
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Whatever rules you claim exist, i think they all go out the window as soon as bullets start flying.
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think what you want, just don't think your opinion has any effect on the truth.
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I think we could be a lot more effective in killing our enemies, but we'd also probably be a lot more effective in killing civilians, which is bad for public support of war.
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very true. there is certainly a practical component as well as a moral component.
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The problem with pointing to the law of armed conflict is that it really doesn't amount to anything.
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why?
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It might strive to make war more humane, but i would argue that such a thing is not possible. That's like coming up with a "law of sexual assault" in an effort to make rape more humane. It's lip service. In the end innocent people are still dying and someone is still getting raped. I'm not saying soldiers are rapists, either, just that war seems to have a many rape-like qualities.
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so which is it? you went from claiming there were no rules (last post) to the rules not making it more humane... even though it might?
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I'm not saying i don't respect the role armed conflict has played throughout the history of our humanity. I'm just not trying to pretend that it is anything other than what it is, namely, horrible.
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who is saying it isn't horrible? as unfortunate as having to fight with lethal force is... you must grant that there are more lawful and humane ways to practice and that there are despicable and cowardly ways to prosecute it.