| So, since there's nothing civilized abut war, when a war is declared we may as well go around indiscriminately slaughtering anyone and everyone, eh? bull. Certainly war is not the most civilized of mans endeavours, but modern warfare is a hell of a lot more civilized than the ongoing genocides in Africa, the slave trades in some Muslim states, the systematic oppression of the majority of Iraqis by Sadams regime, the systematic oppression and degradation of women in Middle Eastern societies, the religiously motivated attempts at the destruction of the Jewish state, etc, etc, etc. The Geneva Conventions exist to act as a moderating influence on the actions of forces engaged in combat. They exist to protect non-combatants, to decrease the impact of the war on the living condition of civilians, to provide basic human rights to captured soldiers and the wounded (of both sides), and to allow humanitarian installations and organizations to operate in plain sight without being targeted. Our current enemies disregard every aspect of the Geneva Conventions, therefore to a certain extent you're right; there's nothing civilized about THEIR war. Our soldiers on the other hand, by and large, understand, support and uphold both the spirit and the letter of the conventions. You want to look at the war as "naked aggression", that's your prerogative; I see you merely as a sheep baying angrily at the sheep dogs, safe in your “knowledge” that the wolves just want to be friends. |
