Publicity may skew understanding.

During our last class on the Rules of Law, Dr. Carpenter asked the class what we would individually do to help support the rules of war regime.

I stated that I would talk with family and friends to help promote understanding (while hoping that my own understand was accurate). However, several my class mates mentioned publicizing the issues to raise public awareness.

This tactic is reliant on present the right information:

Awareness raising such as: Basic Rules of War by the Canadian Red Cross, I think increase public misperceptions and misunderstandings about the rules of war. The mention of 'Red Cross,' I think adds an element of legitimacy to the presentation of any humanitarian issue (at least to the general public). But the simplified stating of rules of war on this page, I think undermine the rules of war regime. On this page it states that attacks on civilians and domestic infrastructure are prohibited. However, according to the rules of war, if a target is a legitimate military target it is legal to attack or destroy it, and the civilian causalities are causalities of war, not victims of a war crime. So yes, a military is not to attack civilians - that is a war crime. But recognition between what the rules of war say and how they are implemented my help true understanding about the dynamics of war.


The Additional Protocols acknowledge that during war, civilians die as a result of military actions. As long as the military does not intentionally target civilians, but targets a legitimate military target, it is not against the rules of war.


This specific misperception, I think may often lead to a mislabeling of incidents that involve civilian deaths as a violation of the rules of war when in fact it may be a legal action according to the international regime.

Additional Protocol, Article 51: "The civilian population and individual civilians shall enjoy general protection against dangers arising from military operations."

Additional Protocol I, Article 52: "Attacks shall be limited strictly to military objectives. In so far as objects are concerned, military objectives are limited to those objects which by their nature, location, purpose or use make an effective contribution to military action and whose total or partial destruction, capture or neutralization, in the circumstances ruling at the time, offers a definite military advantage."