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30 votes
4 answers
5k views

Why isn't any unprovoked act of aggression considered a war crime?

I'm struggling to understand the notion of "war crimes". It refers to acts within the context of a war that are considered especially heinous and outside the normal parameters of armed ...
Barmar's user avatar
  • 10.8k
18 votes
4 answers
4k views

Can war crimes ever be justified as self-defense?

This question is not related to any ongoing event, but, rather, is a hypothetical scenario. Suppose country X invades country Y. While country X possess much advantage in power and dominance over ...
Kamola's user avatar
  • 321
15 votes
2 answers
6k views

Did the USA ever officially apologize for shooting down "Iran Air Flight 655" in 3 July of 1988?

Iran Air Flight 655 was a civilian jet airliner shot down by U.S. missiles on 3 July 1988 as it flew over the Strait of Hormuz at the end of the Iran–Iraq War. 290 innocent civilians (252 Iranians ...
Persian Cat's user avatar
  • 1,193
15 votes
1 answer
2k views

Has any relevant American politician ever publicly admitted that the Gulf of Tonkin incident was a lie?

During an interview (video here) celebrity and former Governor of Minnesota Jesse Ventura said that "they" were admitting that the Gulf of Tonkin incident was a lie. There are somewhat credible ...
user avatar
11 votes
2 answers
3k views

What's the largest death by starvation (estimate) count during a siege in the past 30 years, and what level of condemnation did it receive?

I was able to find out that e.g. during the 2016 siege of Fallujah, which was occupied by ISIS at the time, around 140 civilians starved. The estimate given by Wikipedia seems to come from HRW (which ...
got trolled too much this week's user avatar
9 votes
3 answers
6k views

Is there a plausible military purpose for the recent use of white phosphorus in Gaza?

news agencies and human rights groups have suggested Israel may have used white phosophorus in Gaza last week (the week starting Oct 8): https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/10/12/israel-white-phosphorus-...
user avatar
9 votes
3 answers
901 views

Why would countries attack civilian facilities like hospitals during war?

Very recently, on 8th March 2022, Russia allegedly has bombed a Ukrainian children’s hospital in Mariupol, as reported by among others CNN and BBC. There have been similar incidents in the past: USA ...
Sebastiaan van den Broek's user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
924 views

Is it illegal for Russia to kill Ukrainian President Zelenskyy?

There are some actions in war that are designated as war crimes, such as targeting civilians, torture, and systematic sexual violence or enslavement. Some of these actions hinge on the definition of &...
TheEnvironmentalist's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
405 views

What are the safeguards, set by the US military, to reduce the risk of committing war crimes?

I am talking here about war crimes committed by individuals or units (i.e., not representing a deliberate government/military policy), such as, e.g., the My Lai Massacre during the Vietnam war. One ...
Morisco's user avatar
  • 24.6k
4 votes
4 answers
675 views

Reasons for high number of casualties in 2023 Israel-Hamas war

The ongoing Israel-Hamas war results in a much higher number of Palestinian casualties than previous conflicts: nearly 19,000 Palestinians are killed (according to the Hamas run Gaza Health Ministry), ...
Morisco's user avatar
  • 24.6k
2 votes
3 answers
1k views

Is destroying civilian infrastructure to create a "buffer zone" a war crime?

Recently, over 20 Israeli soldiers died in Gaza while they were destroying civilian infrastructure and residential areas with the intention of creating a "buffer zone" in Gaza, ostensibly to ...
Stop Gaza Genocide's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
116 views

Chilcot Report did not express a view on whether the invasion was legal. Which forum is responsible for it?

The Iraq inquiry finally gave it's report; Chilcot Report. While the legal basis for the war was "far from satisfactory," the inquiry did not express a view on whether the invasion was legal, Chilcot ...
user 1's user avatar
  • 6,493
1 vote
1 answer
201 views

Does international law hold an Army accountable for killings done by other groups during a military attack?

Consider a situation where a country is partially occupied by another. An army unit strikes across a border town of the occupying force. Their military objective is to destroy an enemy defensive unit, ...
sfxedit's user avatar
  • 9,586
1 vote
1 answer
376 views

Can Chilcot Report be used to prosecute Tony Blair?

Yesterday, The Iraq inquiry finally gave its report which is widely known as Chilcot Report. In this Report, the inquiry concluded: Saddam Regime did not pose a threat to British interests The ...
NSNoob's user avatar
  • 1,497
-1 votes
1 answer
308 views

If Russia drops a nuclear bomb, is it realistically possible to prevent neutralize it without getting serious damage? [closed]

By "serious damage" I mean any kind of severe environmental damage and/or damage to the people health/life. I understand that there's a tiny probability for that to happen, but just in case, ...
Archil Zhvania's user avatar

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