People throw the term around daily. So. Some expert now please define "War Crimes"? for those who throw

Question

the term around not having any idea of what it means? since it's meaning has serious consequences.

This question is for the experts. No guesses please

excellent so far...........

humm....may not be any 'real' experts answering here, but the term is definitely more unmderstandable....interesting about Cheney...

Answer 1

war crime is a punishable offense under International Law, for violations of the laws of war by any person or persons, military or civilian. Every violation of the law of war in an inter-state conflict is a war crime, while violations in internal conflicts are typically limited to the local jurisdiction. In essence, the term "war crime" represents the concept of an international jurisdiction as applicable to the most severe crimes, in areas where government is dysfunctional and society is in a state of turmoil.

Answer 2

Simple.
There are rules of engagement and rules of conduct.
Both sets of rules are local to your nations military and even your specific branch of the military and even what job you do in the military.

If you do something deliberate like, blow up a house with civilians in it or shoot/kill a surrendering combatant you have possibly commited a war crime.

You will go before a military tribunal to determine if investigation/action is required to determine if you have or have not commited a war crime.

For instance, you have just shot a surrendering combatant in the head and he has died. Several soldiers witnessed it. You go before the tribunal and they look at the facts to determine if you acted appropriately or not.

Perhaps the "surrendering" combatant wouldn't show you both his hands and he kept coming closer to you and your fellow soldiers and he wasn't following any commands. After shooting him you find that he was holding a loaded pistol in his hand behind his back. Pretty straight forward.

What if the same guy you just shot and killed doesn't appear to have any weapon on him.
Perhaps he didn't understand you.
Not so clear cut.
He didn't have a weapon and posed no threat, but you couldn't tell that and he wasn't following directions.
Probably not a war crime, but definitely a bad mark on your record and possibly a lateral move into a non combat position.

Now let's suppose he came out with both hands up waving a white flag and did everything you told him to do and you put your gun to his head and pulled the trigger.
You just commited a war crime.
Do not pass Go, do not collect $200, go directly to jail.

Answer 3

There is no real expert out there. That's why some portions of it have been bouncing around in the appellate courts.

During WWII, war crimes committed by the Third Reich included: Acts of murder, genocide, torture and organized slave labor.

Albert Speer (Hitlers building architect) was sentenced to life by the Nuremberg War Crime Trials for showing factory managers that they could get more production from a POW by feeding them and using project management processes.

Answer 4

Air-conditioned ethics invented by chickenhawks, pacifists, and other snobs. War is outside the law; a soldier has the right to kill anyone he thinks threatens him. But if soldiers are not humiliated and castrated by restrictions, they may come back from the war determined not to be pushed around by those in power. So it is a scheme to turn the bravest into wimpy veterans.

Answer 5

war crime
n.
Any of various crimes, such as genocide or the mistreatment of prisoners of war, committed during a war and considered in violation of the conventions of warfare.

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war crime
Any violation of the laws of war, as laid down by international customary law and certain international treaties. At the end of World War II, the part of the London Agreement signed by the U.S., Britain, the Soviet Union, and France established three categories of war crime: conventional war crimes (including murder, ill treatment, or deportation of the civilian population of occupied territories), crimes against peace, and crimes against humanity (political, racial, or religious persecution against any civilian population). The charter also provided for an international military tribunal to try major Axis war criminals. It further stated that a defendant's position as head of state would not free him from accountability, nor would having acted on orders or out of military necessity. German and Japanese war criminals were tried before Allied tribunals in Nürnberg and Tokyo in 1945–46 and 1946–48, respectively, and in the 1990s tribunals were created for the prosecution of war crimes committed in Rwanda and the territory of the former Yugoslavia. See also Geneva Convention; genocide; Hague Convention; Nürnberg trial.
For more information on war crime, visit Britannica.com.

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Does this help?

Answer 6

another crime of war is war profiteering. cheney and Haliburton are being investigated now. They'll probably get away with it though, too much power and greed.

Answer 7

it means "any president that starts a war, who happens to be a republican".