> >Fifteen Iraqi civilians were packed inside the Toyota, officers said, > >along with as many of their possessions as the jammed vehicle could > >hold. Ten of them, including five children who appeared to be under 5 > >years old, were killed on the spot when the high-explosive rounds > >slammed into their target, Johnson's company reported. Of the five > >others, one man was so severely injured that medics said he was not > >expected to live. > > One ICC trial, coming up...
So, your view is that soldiers are required to let cars run checkpoints after numerous car bombings?
No, I am merely pointing out something that you can expect to see happen -- killings of civilians by US troops being considered war crimes. For enemies of the US, incidents like this are golden opportunies to accuse the US of committing war crimes.
Personally, I think there should be a war crimes tribunal for matters like this once the war is over, if (part of) the international community demands it. Based on what I've read about the incident, I don't think it constitutes a war crime, and I definitely don't believe the ICC would find the soldiers in question guilty, but if an ICC trial is demanded, then there should be one.
I'm thinking about writing Dutchbat and saying that I'm told by one of their representatives that they feel that the US is legally forbidden from defending themselves against cars that ram their checkpoints, and see if your superiors agree with you.
You *could* do that of course, but er... where and when did I say I represent Dutchbat? Where and when did I say my views represent the views of Dutchbat or the views of our Defense Department? And where did say that the US is legally forbidden from defending themselves against cars that ram their checkpoints?
In fact, I have nothing to do with Dutchbat. Dutchbat was formed for military operations in the Balkan; my job does not include any work for Dutchbat.
And the Dutchbat's superior officers are not *my* superiors. The superiors of Dutchbat are military, my superiors (all the way up to the Minister of Defense) are civilians.
Jeroen "Make love, not war" van Baardwijk
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