In a barbaric age, faith in the laws of war are dangerously slipping, Red Cross survey finds

[rug]

DECEMBER 5 2016
David Wroe

It is easy to think that war-fighting is deteriorating into barbarism. The Islamic State's campaign of terror, Boko Haram's sexual violence and use of child bombers, the razing of Aleppo are all playing out in horrific immediacy on social media.

Now the largest-ever survey on attitudes to war reveals a tougher, more cynical public view on how fighting is done, including the statistic that nearly one quarter of Australians think torturing enemy soldiers is justifiable.

The survey of 17,000 people in 16 countries, published by the International Committee of the Red Cross on Monday, found that while most people still believe war should have rules, faith in the Geneva Convention is fading and there is growing acceptance of torture and civilian casualties.

It is prompting the Red Cross, the respected organisation that works in the world's most dangerous places, to call for a renewed effort to promote the virtues of rules in warfare.

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/in-a-seemingly-barbaric-age-faith-in-the-laws-of-war-are-dangerously-slipping-red-cross-survey-finds-20161205-gt4cw2.html

https://www.icrc.org/en/document/people-on-war

[Begabig]

1. Natural result when civilized nations fight asymmetrical threats...

[rug]

2. The Walking Dead is not a model for human behavior.

[Begabig]

5. Ok, I'll bite...

What?

[rug]

7. I guess you don't watch the series.

I'm waiting for ISIS to make an appearance.

[el_bryanto]

3. That's depressing but not surprising

Proto-Trumps like Limbaugh or Cheney have been arguing for decades that the rules of war are stupid and antiquated. The only way to win a war is to kill and terrorize the enemy until they capitulate completely or are completely dead. It ties back to their racist way of looking at the "third world" as a place of mindless barbarity that has to be contained.

And it's unlikely that's going to change.

Bryant

[FarCenter]

4. The death toll in current conflicts seems very low.

Aleppo and Mosul are the current hot spots, but they seem to involve only dozens dead per day.

There is nothing going on to compare with Stalingrad or with the fire bombing of Dresden.

There is not even anything to compare with the Iraq-Iran War in the 1980s, which resulted on about 500,000 dead on each side over 7 years with hundreds dead per day in specific battles.

[Solly Mack]

6. K&R