Posted by Eugene Volokh:
Shooting fleeing soldiers:
[1]Christopher Hitchens writes:
John Kerry actually claims to have shot a fleeing Viet Cong soldier
from the riverbank, something that I personally would have kept
very quiet about. He used to claim that he was a witness to, and
almost a participant in, much worse than that.
Maybe there's part of the story that I'm missing here -- quite likely,
since I haven't been following the Kerry-in-Vietnam matters very
closely (except the Christmas in Cambodia story, which I've been
following chiefly because it seems relatively simple compared to the
other items) -- but what's wrong with shooting a fleeing enemy
soldier?
Shooting a surrendering soldier is forbidden; but fleeing soldiers
generally flee to fight another day, or even to fight you again when
they get behind cover. This is why, as I understand it, shooting
fleeing soldiers, assuming you have sufficient reason to believe them
to indeed be enemy soldiers, is quite legal and in my view quite
morally permissible. Or is there some other fact (say, some aspect of
the rules of engagement in Vietnam) that would make this behavior
improper?
References
1. http://slate.com/id/2105509/
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