{"id":173807,"date":"2015-08-18T17:04:42","date_gmt":"2015-08-18T17:04:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/?p=173807"},"modified":"2015-08-18T17:40:18","modified_gmt":"2015-08-18T17:40:18","slug":"is-the-new-law-of-war-manual-actually-hitlerian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/editorials\/is-the-new-law-of-war-manual-actually-hitlerian\/","title":{"rendered":"Is the New ‘Law of War Manual’ Actually ‘Hitlerian’?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eric Zuesse<\/span><\/p>\n

The Obama U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has quietly issued its important\u00a0Law of War Manual<\/i><\/span><\/a>, and, unlike its predecessor, the 1956 U.S. Army Field Manual<\/i>, which was not designed to approve of the worst practices by both the United States and its enemies in World War II, or after 9\/11, this new document has been alleged specifically to do just that: to allow such attacks as the United States did on Dresden, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki, and in Iraq, and elsewhere.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

First here will be a summary of previous news reports about this historically important document; then, extensive quotations from the actual document itself will be provided, relating to the allegations in those previous news reports. Finally will be conclusions regarding whether, or the extent to which, those earlier news reports about it were true.<\/span><\/p>\n


\nEARLIER REPORTS ABOUT THE MANUAL:<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

The document was first reported by DoD in a curt press release on June 12th, with a short-lived link to the source-document, and headlined, \u201cDoD Announces New Law of War Manual.\u201d<\/span><\/a> This press release was published and discussed only in a few military newsmedia, not in the general press.<\/span><\/p>\n

The document was then anonymously reported on June 25th, at the non-military site,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

http:\/\/respect-discussion.blogspot.com\/2015\/06\/the-usa-writes-their-own-version-of.html<\/a><\/span>, <\/span><\/p>\n

under the headline, “The USA writes their own version of ‘International Law\u2019: Pentagon Rewrites \u2018Law of War\u2019 Declaring \u2018Belligerent\u2019 Journalists as Legitimate Targets.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

That news article attracted some attention from journalists, but no link was provided to the actual document, which the U.S. DoD removed promptly after issuing it.<\/span><\/p>\n

A professor of journalism was quoted there as being opposed to the document\u2019s allegedly allowing America\u2019s embedded war journalists to kill the other side\u2019s journalists. He said: “It gives them license to attack or even murder journalists that they don\u2019t particularly like but aren\u2019t on the other side.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Patrick Martin at the World Socialist Web Site, then headlined on August 11th, \u201cPentagon manual justifies war crimes and press censorship,\u201d<\/span><\/a> and he reported that the Committee to Protect Journalists was obsessed with the document\u2019s implications regarding journalists. A link was provided to the document, but the link is dead.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then, Sherwood Ross headlined at opednews on August 13th, “Boyle: New Pentagon War Manual Reduces Us to ‘Level of Nazis\u2019,\u201d<\/span><\/a> and he interviewed the famous expert on international law, Francis Boyle, about it, who had read the report. Ross opened: “The Pentagon’s new Law of War Manual(LOWM) sanctioning nuclear attacks and the killing of civilians, ‘reads like it was written by Hitler’s\u00a0Ministry of War,’<\/b> says international law authority Francis Boyle of the University of Illinois at Champaign.\u201d Ross continued: “Boyle points out the new manual is designed to supplant the 1956 U.S. Army Field Manual 27-10 written by Richard Baxter, the world’s leading\u00a0authority on the Laws of War. Baxter was the Manley O. Hudson Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and a Judge on the International Court\u00a0of Justice. Boyle was his top student.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ross did not link to the actual document. The only new information he provided about it consisted of Boyle\u2019s opinions about it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Though the DoD removed the document, someone had fortunately already copied it into the Web Archive, and I have linked to it there, at the top of the present article, to make the source-document easily accessible to the general public. The document is 1,204 pages. So, finally, the general public can see the document and make their own judgments about it. What follows will concern specifically the claims about it that were made in those prior news articles, and will compare those claims with the relevant actual statements in the document itself. Reading what the document says is worthwhile, because its predecessor, the Army Field Manual, became central in the news coverage about torture and other Bush Administration war-crimes.<\/span><\/p>\n

THE DOCUMENT:<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

First of all, regarding \u201cjournalists,\u201d the document, in Chapter 4, says: “4.24.2 Journalists and other media representatives are regarded as civilians;471\u00a0i.e., journalism does not constitute taking a direct\u00a0part in hostilities such that such a person would be deprived of protection from being made the\u00a0object of attack.472.\u201d<\/i> Consequently, the journalism professor\u2019s remark is dubious, at best, but probably can be considered to be outright false.<\/span><\/p>\n

The charge by the international lawyer, Professor Boyle, is a different matter altogether.<\/span><\/p>\n

This document says, in Chapter 5: \u201c5.3.1 Responsibility of the Party Controlling Civilian 5.3.1 Persons and Objects. The party controlling civilians and civilian objects has the primary responsibility for the protection of\u00a0civilians and civilian objects.13[13\u00a0See\u00a0\u00a0J. Fred Buzhardt, DoD General Counsel, Letter to Senator Edward Kennedy, Sept. 22, 1972. \u2026] The party controlling the civilian population generally has the\u00a0greater opportunity to minimize risk to civilians.14[14\u00a0\u00a0FINAL\u00a0\u00a0REPORT ON THE\u00a0\u00a0PERSIAN\u00a0\u00a0GULF\u00a0\u00a0WAR \u00a0614. \u2026] Civilians also may share in the responsibility\u00a0to take precautions for their own protection.15[15\u00a0U.S. Comments on the International Committee of the Red Cross\u2019s Memorandum on the Applicability of International Humanitarian Law in the Gulf Region, Jan. 11, 1991. \u2026]\u201d<\/i> This is directly counter to what Professor Boyle was alleged to have charged about the document.<\/span><\/p>\n

The document continues: “5.3.2 Essentially Negative Duties to Respect Civilians and to Refrain From Directing Military Operations Against Them. In general, military operations must not be directed against\u00a0enemy civilians.16\u00a0In particular:<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

–\u00a0Civilians must not be made the object of attack;17<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

–\u00a0Military objectives may not be attacked when the expected incidental loss of life and\u00a0injury to civilians or damage to civilian objects would be excessive in relation to the\u00a0concrete and direct military advantage expected to be gained;18<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

–\u00a0Civilians must not be used as shields or as hostages;19\u00a0and<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

–\u00a0Measures of intimidation or terrorism against the civilian population are prohibited,\u00a0including acts or threats of violence, the primary purpose of which is to spread terror\u00a0among the civilian population.20″<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Furthermore: \u201c5.3.3 Affirmative Duties to Take Feasible Precautions for the Protection of Civilians and Other Protected Persons and Objects. Parties to a conflict must take feasible precautions to\u00a0reduce the risk of harm to the civilian population and other protected persons and objects.27\u00a0Feasible precautions to reduce the risk of harm to civilians and civilian objects must be taken\u00a0when planning and conducting attacks.28\u201d<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Moreover: “5.5.2 Parties to a conflict must conduct attacks in accordance with the principles of distinction and proportionality. In particular, the\u00a0following rules must be observed:<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

–\u00a0Combatants may make military objectives the object of attack, but may not direct attacks\u00a0against civilians, civilian objects, or other protected persons and objects.66<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

–\u00a0Combatants must refrain from attacks in which the expected loss of life or injury to\u00a0civilians, and damage to civilian objects incidental to the attack, would be excessive in\u00a0relation to the concrete and direct military advantage expected to be gained.67<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

–\u00a0Combatants must take feasible precautions in conducting attacks to reduce the risk of\u00a0harm to civilians and other protected persons and objects.68<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

–\u00a0In conducting attacks, combatants must assess in good faith the information that is\u00a0available to them.69<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

–\u00a0Combatants may not kill or wound the enemy by resort to perfidy.70<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

–\u00a0Specific rules apply to the use of certain types of weapons.71\u201d<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

In addition: “5.5.3.2 AP I Presumptions in Favor of Civilian Status in Conducting Attacks. In\u00a0the context of conducting attacks, certain provisions of AP I reflect a presumption in favor of\u00a0civilian status in cases of doubt. Article 52(3) of AP I provides that \u2018[i]n case of doubt whether\u00a0an object which is normally dedicated to civilian purposes, such as a place of worship, a house or\u00a0other dwelling or a school, is being used to make an effective contribution to military actions, it\u00a0shall be presumed not to be so used.\u201976\u00a0Article 50(1) of AP I provides that \u2018[i]n case of doubt\u00a0whether a person is a civilian, that person shall be considered to be a civilian.\u2019\u201d<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Then, there is this: “5.15 UNDEFENDED\u00a0CITIES, TOWNS,\u00a0AND\u00a0VILLAGES. Attack, by whatever means, of a village, town, or city that is undefended is prohibited.360\u00a0Undefended villages, towns, or cities may, however, be captured.\u201d<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Furthermore: “5.17 SEIZURE AND\u00a0DESTRUCTION OF\u00a0ENEMY\u00a0PROPERTY. Outside the context of attacks, certain rules apply to the seizure and destruction of enemy\u00a0property:<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

–\u00a0Enemy property may not be seized or destroyed unless imperatively demanded by the\u00a0necessities of war.\u201d<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

These features too are not in accord with the phrase\u00a0‘reads like it was written by Hitler’s\u00a0Ministry of War.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

However, then, there is also this in Chapter 6, under \u201c6.5 Lawful Weapons”:<\/span><\/p>\n

“6.5.1 Certain types of weapons,\u00a0however, are subject to specific rules that apply to their use by the U.S. armed forces. These\u00a0rules may reflect U.S. obligations under international law or national policy. These weapons\u00a0include:<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

–\u00a0mines, booby-traps, and other devices (except certain specific classes of prohibited\u00a0<\/i><\/span>mines, booby-traps, and other devices);38<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

–\u00a0cluster munitions;39<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

–\u00a0incendiary weapons;40<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

–\u00a0laser weapons (except blinding lasers);41<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

–\u00a0riot control agents;42<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

–\u00a0herbicides;43<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

–\u00a0nuclear weapons;\u00a044\u00a0and<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

–\u00a0explosive ordnance.45<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

6.5.2 Other Examples of Lawful Weapons. In particular, aside from the rules prohibiting\u00a0weapons calculated to cause superfluous injury and inherently indiscriminate weapons,46\u00a0there\u00a0are no law of war rules specifically prohibiting or restricting the following types of weapons by\u00a0the U.S. armed forces: \u2026<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

–\u00a0depleted uranium munitions;51\u201d<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Mines, cluster munitions, incendiary weapons, herbicides, nuclear weapons, and depleted uranium munitions, are all almost uncontrollably violative of the restrictions that were set forth in Chapter 5, preceding.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are also passages like this:<\/span><\/p>\n

“6.5.4.4 Expanding Bullets. The law of war does not prohibit the use of bullets\u00a0that expand or flatten easily in the human body. Like other weapons, such bullets are only\u00a0prohibited if they are calculated to cause superfluous injury.74\u00a0The U.S. armed forces have used\u00a0expanding bullets in various counterterrorism and hostage rescue operations, some of which have\u00a0been conducted in the context of armed conflict.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

The 1899 Declaration on Expanding Bullets prohibits the use of expanding bullets in\u00a0armed conflicts in which all States that are parties to the conflict are also Party to the 1899 Declaration on Expanding Bullets.75\u00a0The United States is not a Party to the 1899 Declaration on\u00a0Expanding Bullets, in part because evidence was not presented at the diplomatic conference that\u00a0expanding bullets produced unnecessarily severe or cruel wounds.76\u201d<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

The United States still has not gone as far as the 1899 Declaration on Expanding Bullets. The U.S. presumption is instead that expanding bullets have not \u201cproduced unnecessarily severe or cruel wounds.\u201d This is like George W. Bush saying that waterboarding, etc., aren\u2019t \u201ctorture.\u201d The document goes on to explain that, “expanding bullets are widely used by law enforcement agencies today, which also supports the\u00a0conclusion that States do not regard such bullets are inherently inhumane or needlessly cruel.81\u201d<\/i> And, of course, the Republicans on the U.S. Supreme Court do not think that the death penalty is either \u201ccruel\u201d or \u201cunusual\u201d punishment. Perhaps Obama is a closeted Republican himself.<\/span><\/p>\n

The use of depleted uranium was justified by an American Ambassador\u2019s statement asserting that, \u201cThe environmental and long-term health effects of the use of depleted uranium munitions have been thoroughly\u00a0investigated by the World Health Organization, the United Nations Environmental Program, the International\u00a0Atomic Energy Agency, NATO, the Centres for Disease Control, the European Commission, and others. None of\u00a0these inquiries has documented long-term environmental or health effects attributable to use of these munitions.\u201d<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

However, according to\u00a0Al Jazeera\u2019s Dahr Jamail, on 15 March 2013:<\/span><\/a>\u00a0“Official Iraqi government statistics show that, prior to the outbreak\u00a0of the First Gulf War in 1991, the rate of cancer cases in Iraq was 40\u00a0out of 100,000 people. By 1995, it had\u00a0increased to 800 out of 100,000\u00a0people, and, by 2005, it had doubled to at least 1,600 out of 100,000\u00a0people. Current estimates show the increasing trend continuing. As shocking as these statistics are, due to a lack of adequate\u00a0documentation, research, and reporting of cases, the actual rate of\u00a0cancer and other diseases is likely to be much\u00a0higher than even these\u00a0figures suggest.\u201d If those figures are accurate, then the reasonable presumption would be that depleted uranium should have been banned long ago. Continuing to assert that it\u2019s not as dangerous a material as people think it is, seems likely to be based on cover-up, rather than on science. Until there is proof that it\u2019s not that toxic, the presumption should be that it must be outlawed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, though the press reports on this document have not generally focused on the issue of torture, it\u2019s worth pointing out what the document does say, about that:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c5.26.2 Information Gathering. The employment of measures necessary for obtaining information about the enemy and their country is considered permissible.727<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Information gathering measures, however, may not violate specific law of war rules.728<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

For example, it would be unlawful, of course, to use torture or abuse to interrogate detainees for purposes of gathering information.\u201d<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

And: \u201c9.8.1 Humane Treatment During Interrogation. Interrogation must be carried out in a manner consistent with the requirements for humane treatment, including the prohibition against acts of violence or intimidation, and insults.153<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

No physical or mental torture, nor any other form of coercion, may be inflicted on POWs\u00a0<\/i><\/span>to secure from them information of any kind whatever.154 POWs who refuse to answer may not be threatened, insulted, or exposed to unpleasant or disadvantageous treatment of any kind.155<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Prohibited means include imposing inhumane conditions,156 denial of medical treatment, or the use of mind-altering chemicals.157\u201d<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Those provisions would eliminate George W. Bush\u2019s \u2018justification\u2019 for the use of tortures such as waterboarding, and humiliation. <\/span><\/p>\n

Furthermore: \u201c8.2.1 Protection Against Violence, Torture, and Cruel Treatment. Detainees must be protected against violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment, torture, and any form of corporal punishment.29\u201d<\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Therefore, even if Bush\u2019s approved forms of torture were otherwise allowable under Obama\u2019s new legal regime, some of those forms, such as waterboarding, and even \u201cinsults,\u201d would be excluded by this provision.<\/span><\/p>\n

Moreover: \u201c8.2.4 Threats to Commit Inhumane Treatment. Threats to commit the unlawful acts described above (i.e., violence against detainees, or humiliating or degrading treatment, or biological or medical experiments) are also prohibited.37\u201d<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

And: \u201c8.14.4.1 U.S. Policy Prohibiting Transfers in Cases in Which Detainees Would\u00a0<\/i><\/span>Likely Be Tortured. U.S. policy provides that no person shall be transferred to another State if it is more likely than not that the person would be tortured in the receiving country.\u201d<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Therefore, specifically as regards torture, the Obama system emphatically and clearly excludes what the Bush interpretation of the U.S. Army Field Manual<\/i> <\/span>allowed.<\/span><\/p>\n

CONCLUSIONS:<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

What seems undeniable about the Law of War Manual<\/i>, is that there are self-contradictions within it. To assert that it “reads like it was written by Hitler’s Ministry of War,\u201d is going too far. But, to say that it\u2019s hypocritical (except, perhaps, on torture, where it\u2019s clearly a repudiation of GWB\u2019s practices), seems safely true.<\/span><\/p>\n

This being so, Obama\u2019s Law of War Manual<\/i> should ultimately be judged by Obama\u2019s actions as the U.S. Commander in Chief, and not merely by the document\u2019s words. Actions speak truer than words, even if they don\u2019t speak louder than words (and plenty of people still think that Obama isn\u2019t a Republican in \u2018Democratic\u2019 verbal garb: they\u2019re not tone-deaf, but they surely are action-deaf; lots of people judge by words not actions). For example: it was Obama himself who arranged the bloody coup in Ukraine<\/span><\/a> and the resulting necessary ethnic cleansing<\/span><\/a> there in order to exterminate or else drive out the residents in the area of Ukraine that had voted 90+% for the Ukrainian President whom Obama\u2019s people (via their Ukrainian agents) had overthrown<\/span><\/a>. Cluster bombs, firebombs<\/span><\/a>, and other such munitions have been used by their stooges for this purpose, that ethnic cleansing<\/span><\/a>: against the residents there<\/span><\/a>. Obama has spoken publicly many times defending what they are doing, but using euphemisms to refer to it. He is certainly behind<\/span><\/a> the coup<\/span><\/a> and its follow-through in the ethnic cleansing<\/span><\/a>, and none of it would be happening if he did not approve of it. Judging the mere words of Obama\u2019s Law of War Manual<\/i> \u00a0by Obama\u2019s actions (such as in Ukraine, but also Syria<\/span><\/a>, and Libya) is judging it by how he actually interprets it, and this technique of interpreting the document provides the answer to the document\u2019s real meaning. It answers the question whenever there are contradictions within the document (as there indeed are).<\/span><\/p>\n

Consequently, what Francis Boyle was reported to have said is, in the final analysis, true, at least in practical terms \u2013 which is all that really counts \u2013 except on torture, where his allegation is simply false.<\/span><\/p>\n

Obama\u2019s intent, like that of anyone, must be drawn from his actions, his decisons, not from his words, whenever the words and the actions don\u2019t jibe, don\u2019t match. When his Administration produced its Law of War Manual<\/i>, it should be interpreted to mean what his Administration has done and is doing, not by its words, wherever there is a contradiction between those two.<\/span><\/p>\n

This also means that no matter how much one reads the document itself, some of what one is reading is deception if it\u2019s not being interpreted by, and in the light of, an even more careful reading of Obama\u2019s relevant actions regarding the matters to which the document pertains.<\/span><\/p>\n

Otherwise, the document is being read in a way that confuses its policy statements with its propaganda statements.<\/span><\/p>\n

Parts of the document are propaganda. The purpose isn\u2019t to fool the public, who won\u2019t read the document (and Obama apparently doesn\u2019t want them to). The purpose of the propaganda is to enable future presidents to say, \u201cBut if you will look at this part of the Manual, you will see that what we are doing is perfectly legal.\u201d Those mutually contradictory passages are there in order to provide answers which will satisfy both<\/i> <\/span>the \u2018hawks\u2019 and<\/i> <\/span>the \u2018doves.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013<\/span><\/p>\n

Investigative historian Eric Zuesse is the author, most recently, of They\u2019re Not Even Close: The Democratic vs. Republican Economic Records, 1910-2010<\/i><\/span><\/a>,<\/i> and of \u00a0<\/i>CHRIST\u2019S VENTRILOQUISTS: The Event that Created Christianity<\/i><\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eric Zuesse The Obama U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has quietly issued its important\u00a0Law of War Manual, and, unlike its predecessor, the 1956 U.S. Army Field Manual, which was not designed to approve of the worst practices by both the United States and its enemies in World War II, or after 9\/11, this new document […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1254,"featured_media":173809,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[487,461,1622],"tags":[115,30,27,32,96,535,882,1021,59,753,524,754,51,523,49,76,40,1024],"class_list":{"0":"post-173807","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-breaking-news","8":"category-editorials","9":"category-featured","10":"tag-barack-obama","11":"tag-big-brother","12":"tag-bush","13":"tag-cia","14":"tag-cover-up","15":"tag-global-news","16":"tag-libya","17":"tag-martial-law","18":"tag-military","19":"tag-police-state","20":"tag-russia","21":"tag-syria","22":"tag-torture","23":"tag-ukraine","24":"tag-usa-news","25":"tag-warfare","26":"tag-white-house","27":"tag-ww3"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1254"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173807"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173807\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}