The United States military and the law of war: inculcating an ethos - International Justice, War Crimes, and Terrorism: The U.S. Record

Social Research, Winter, 2002 by W. Hays Parks

Commanders and their soldiers undoubtedly tire of receiving law of war training, because they do not believe they or members of their unit are capable of violating the law of war. There is a teaching lesson here. Some years ago I commanded the Marine Corps law of war training unit to which I referred earlier. I watched student body language during the war crimes class. Whereas previous classes on the Geneva Conventions and the legality of weapons were well received, the students--again, officers from the rank of captain to colonel, largely combat arms officers--appeared restless. Listening to one of my best instructors offer a well-researched class in which he detailed war crimes committed by Germany and Japan during World War II, it became clear that the audience could not relate to the history he was offering. The audience response was simple: "Marines don't do that." It just as easily could have been "Americans don't do that." They correctly viewed the My Lai massacre as an aberration. I handed my instructors copies of Gary Solis's monograph on Marine lawyers in Vietnam, (22) directed them to read it cover to cover, and start using cases of marines who had "done that." The effect was spectacular: suddenly the students were listening, because some of our own had done something very, very wrong. I mention this for two reasons. It is sometimes difficult for our soldiers to see the necessity for repeated law of war training, because they do not believe this to be an American problem. But we continue its emphasis to ensure it is ingrained. We are aided by our cultural respect for the rule of law, which returns to a point made previously: a culture accustomed to the rule of law is unlikely to have difficulty adhering to the law of war in its military operations. Conversely, a culture unaccustomed to the rule of law is likely to have difficulty adhering to the law of war, particularly if its soldiers have received little to no law of war training.

Application of the Law of War to Military Operations Other Than War

United States military units have a long history of participating in what now is called military operations other than war, through presence missions, noncombatant evacuation, disaster relief, and a host of similar operations. The range of peace operations that began at the start of the last decade raised questions as to the applicability of the law of war. In response, the DoD law of war working group incorporated into the Joint Chiefs of Staff law of war directive (implementing the DoD law of war program directive) the statement that

   The Armed Forces of the United States will comply with the
   law of war during the conduct of all military operations and
   related activities in armed conflict, however such conflicts
   are characterized, and unless otherwise directed by competent
   authorities, will apply law of war principles during all
   operations that are characterized as Military Operations
   Other Than War (Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
   1996).