A Good Kill: Fixing the Rules of Engagement

Abstract

The environment of modern warfare has changed in the past 20 years. This change is well manifested in the shift from international armed conflict to noninternational armed conflict, and recently, to a new form of conflict: transnational conflict between States and nonstate entities. There exists a wide body of discourse and dissent regarding the status, protections, and even definitions of those involved in this new form of warfare. United States Standing Rules of Engagement (United States SROE) provide guidance and boundaries for the identification and determination of a person's status with regard to applications of force, targeting, and self-defense. This paper will argue that the conflict between United States SROE and current international law and some customary international law could be mitigated if United States SROE modified or changed the reference to identification of hostile forces from civilians to unprotected combatants or unprotected belligerents.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 31, 2008
Accession Number
ADA494418

Entities

People

  • Mark R. Hollahan

Organizations

  • Naval War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Civilian Population
  • Geneva Conventions
  • Governments
  • Identification
  • International Law
  • Law
  • Military Operations
  • Military Personnel
  • National Security
  • Naval Operations
  • Naval Warfare
  • Prisoners Of War
  • Rules Of Engagement
  • Security
  • United States
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Irregular Warfare and Special Operations Cyberspace Operations against Adversarial Threats.
  • Political Violence and Terrorism Studies.
  • Strategic Security Studies