Let Nations Without War Crimes Cast The First Stones

"War crimes" are an all too common feature of all wars, including the saturation bombing of largely civilian sites by British and American planes  in Dresden, Germany in 1945.

Millions the world over are expressing shock and outrage over Russia's brutal and indiscriminate bombing of civilians in Ukraine, justifiably charging Putin with "war crimes."

I totally agree, but have also always believed that war itself is a crime, and that to assign the "crime" label to only certain acts of killing people, armed or otherwise, is morally flawed and hypocritical, to say the least.

The United Nations considers the following as war crimes, according to Wikipedia:

1. Intentional murder of innocent people;

2. Torture or inhuman treatment, including biological experiments;

3. Willfully causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or health;

4. Compelling a prisoner of war or other protected person to serve in the forces of hostile power;

5. Use by children under the age of sixteen years into armed forces or groups or using them to participate actively in hostilities;

6. Intentionally directing attack against the civilian population as not taking direct part in hostilities;

7. Extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly;

8. Destroying or seizing the property of an adversary unless demanded by necessities of the conflict;

9. Using poison or poisoned weapons;

10. Intentionally directing attack against building dedicated to religion, education, art, science or charitable purposes, historic monuments, hospitals as long as it's not used as military infrastructure;

11. Willfully depriving a prisoner of war or other protected person of the rights of fair and regular trial;

12. Attacking or bombarding towns, villages, dwellings or buildings which are undefended and which are not military infrastructure;

13. Unlawful deportation, transfer, or unlawful confinement;

14. Taking of hostages.

15. Intentional assault with the knowledge that such an assault would result in loss of life or casualty to civilians or damage to civilian objects or extensive, long-term and severe damage to the natural environment that would be clearly excessive.

This last point (15), in my opinion, pretty much describes any modern war launched anywhere. All wars now result in more civilian casualties than armed ones. Having said that, conscripted soldiers, as the sons and daughters of beloved families and communities, represent an equally tragic and, in my mind indefensible, loss of life. All lives do really matter.

In what could be considered an example of "Victor's Justice," we should note that no charges were placed in the case of Allied and U.S. air raids that caused some 25,000 casualties in Dresden, Germany alone. Similar casualties were inflicted in other German cities, and the US has the distinction of having bombed the largest number of civilians ever in a single air raid in Tokyo, Japan near the end of WWII.

Then there was the even more lethal use of nuclear bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.

May God save us from ever having to reap what we have sown.

Some 80,000 people were instantly killed or fatally wounded in the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima, and over 100,000 died afterwards from the effects of the first atomic bomb ever detonated.