In Defense of the Red Army

[95th Rifleman]

Originally Posted by Legbreaker

Depends on how well trained the troops are. Nobody wants to stand in front of a court answering charges of war crimes because they "forgot" to mark a minefield and some civilians blundered their way into it....

That idea might fade away post nuke, but I'm fairly sure those with more than just a few months training will stick to their old habits and do the right thing.

In an ideal world I'd agree with you, but the problem is things are not ideal. You only really get charged with warcrimes if you lose and many nations today just ignore international law relying on either thier status as superpowers or the backing of such to bail tem out.

Israel is a classic example, many of their tactics break international law but nobody can get past the security council in the UN to bring them to book. Examles include unmarkd mindfields and using AAA weapons against civilian buildings (that caused quite a stir back in the 80's).

"The right thing" doesn't really hold meaning in major conflicts, history has proven this. In a major world war III situation I think we'd find all sides playing fast and loose with international law, especialy if things where going bad.