| As a major world power we are looked to for setting the standard. This is going to be an extremely difficult tightrope to walk. When people are willing to employ inhuman means to their ends at what point do we not counter their moves? I think the point must be when you become what you hate. We cannot employ their methods and so we must accept that weakness as our dole. Our strength, however, must be the example of a better life. People must believe in us or we defeat ourselves before any action is taken to counter the threat because in the minds of others we become just another threat. That must never be allowed to be the case. The Geneva Convention was setup as a guideline for combat between nations. Not every nation has signed it though. A prime example was Japan in WWII. We at times acted quite brutally to them in kind for the brutality they showed us, but we did not break the rules of the Convention. Japan did, but as non-signers they did not suffer the consequences of that. Nothing was ever done about their use of our personnel for slave labor for example. So in short, the Convention is not the final word on the conduct of warfare, it is merely the start.
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"Do not forget your dogs of war, your big guns, which are the most-to-be respected arguments of the rights of kings."
- Frederick the Great, King of Prussia  |