Summary
WHEN is a war crime not a war crime but an act of selfdefence aimed at protecting the national interest? It's a question which even the most experienced expert in jurisprudence is hard pushed to answer. It's also made more intractable by the fact that in modern asymmetrical warfare the issues have become blurred to the extent that soldiers and civilians find themselves occupying the same battleground. As a result, casualties occur on both sides of the divide and in such circumstances it's difficult to say who is the guilty perpetrator and who is the blameless functionary.
Take an incident which happened last week and which is an all- too-common occurrence in today's front lines. An armed drone was sent to attack a target suspected of sheltering enemy insurgents, but in the resultant missile blast civilians were among the reported casualties. Given the circumstances, it is most unlikely that any retribution will be visited on the US military team responsible for the attack on the suspected militant compound in the Dandey Darpa Khel area of North Waziristan in Pakistan's tribal areas. This was a military operation mounted from a base in distant Nevada which was presumably based on reliable intelligence.See the full content of this document
Extract
Impunity in War a Crime in Itself Realpolitik
No doubt it will be logged as just another day, just another missile strike in the seemingly endless war against an unyielding enemy. But compare that to wh...
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