Air warfare must comply with
laws and customs of war
The law of war is the component of international law that regulates the conditions for initiating war (''jus ad bellum'') and the conduct of warring parties (''jus in bello''). Laws of war define sovereignty and nationhood, states and territor ...
, including
international humanitarian law
International humanitarian law (IHL), also referred to as the laws of armed conflict, is the law that regulates the conduct of war (''jus in bello''). It is a branch of international law that seeks to limit the effects of armed conflict by prot ...
by protecting the victims of the conflict and refraining from attacks on protected persons.
These restraints on aerial warfare are covered by the general laws of war, because unlike war on land and at sea—which are specifically covered by rules such as the
1907 Hague Convention
The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 are a series of international treaty, treaties and declarations negotiated at two international peace conferences at The Hague in the Netherlands. Along with the Geneva Conventions, the Hague Conventions w ...
and
Protocol I
Protocol I (sometimes referred to as Additional Protocol I or AP 1) is a 1977 amendment protocol to the Geneva Conventions relating to the protection of victims of ''international conflicts'', extending to "armed conflicts in which peoples are ...
additional to the
Geneva Conventions
upright=1.15, Original document in single pages, 1864
The Geneva Conventions are four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish international legal standards for humanitarian treatment in war. The singular term ''Geneva Conven ...
, which contain pertinent restrictions, prohibitions and guidelines—there are no treaties specific to aerial warfare.
To be legal, aerial operations must comply with the principles of humanitarian law: ''
military necessity
Military necessity, along with distinction, and proportionality, are three important principles of international humanitarian law governing the legal use of force in an armed conflict.
Attacks
Military necessity is governed by several constra ...
'', ''
distinction'', and ''
proportionality'':
An attack or action must be intended to help in the military defeat of the enemy; it must be an attack on a military objective, and the harm caused to civilians or civilian property must be proportional and not excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated.
International law up to 1945
Before and during World War II (1939-1945), international law relating to aerial bombardment rested on the treaties of 1864, 1899, and 1907, which constituted the definition of most of the laws of war at that time — which, despite repeated diplomatic attempts, was not updated in the immediate run-up to World War II. The most relevant of these treaties is the
Hague Convention of 1907
The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 are a series of international treaties and declarations negotiated at two international peace conferences at The Hague in the Netherlands. Along with the Geneva Conventions, the Hague Conventions were amo ...
because it was the last treaty ratified before 1939 which specified the laws of war regarding the use of
bombardment
A bombardment is an attack by artillery fire or by dropping bombs from aircraft on fortifications, combatants, or towns and buildings.
Prior to World War I, the term was only applied to the bombardment of defenseless or undefended objects, ...
. In the Hague Convention of 1907, two treaties have a direct bearing on the issue of bombardment. These are "Laws of War: Laws and Customs of War on Land (Hague IV); 18 October 1907"
[Laws of War: Laws and Customs of War on Land (Hague IV); 18 October 1907](_blank)
available from the Avalon Project
The Avalon Project is a digital library of documents relating to law, history and diplomacy. The project is part of the Yale Law School Lillian Goldman Law Library.
The project contains online electronic copies of documents dating back to the be ...
at the Yale Law School
Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...
, entered into force: 26 January 1910. and "Laws of War: Bombardment by Naval Forces in Time of War (Hague IX); 18 October 1907".
[Laws of War: Bombardment by Naval Forces in Time of War (Hague IX); October 18, 1907](_blank)
available from the Avalon Project
The Avalon Project is a digital library of documents relating to law, history and diplomacy. The project is part of the Yale Law School Lillian Goldman Law Library.
The project contains online electronic copies of documents dating back to the be ...
at the Yale Law School
Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...
, It is significant that there is a different treaty which should be invoked for bombardment of land by land (Hague IV) and of land by sea (Hague IX).
[International Review of the Red Cross no 323](_blank)
cites: Charles Rousseau, References p. 360. "the analogy between land and aerial bombardment". Hague IV, which reaffirmed and updated Hague II (1899),
[Laws of War: Laws and Customs of War on Land (Hague II); July 29, 1899](_blank)
available from the Avalon Project
The Avalon Project is a digital library of documents relating to law, history and diplomacy. The project is part of the Yale Law School Lillian Goldman Law Library.
The project contains online electronic copies of documents dating back to the be ...
at the Yale Law School
Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...
, entry into force 4 September 1900 contains the following clauses:
Although the 1907 Hague Conventions ''IV – The Laws and Customs of War on Land'' and ''IX – Bombardment by Naval Forces in Time of War'' prohibited the bombardment of undefended places, there was no international prohibition against indiscriminate bombardment of non-combatants in defended places, a shortcoming in the rules that was greatly exacerbated by aerial bombardment.
The attendees of the
Second Hague Conference in 1907 did adopt a "Declaration Prohibiting the Discharge of Projectiles and Explosives from Balloons" on 18 October 1907. It stated: "The Contracting Powers agree to prohibit, for a period extending to the close of the Third Peace Conference, the discharge of projectiles and explosives from balloons or by other new methods of a similar nature."
The foreshadowed "Third Peace Conference" never took place, and the Declaration remains in force. The United Kingdom and the United States ratified the Declaration.
With the rise of aerial warfare, non-combatants became extremely vulnerable and inevitably became
collateral targets in such warfare - potentially on a much larger scale than previously.
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
(1914-1918) saw the first use of
strategic bombing
Strategic bombing is a military strategy used in total war with the goal of defeating the enemy by destroying its morale, its economic ability to produce and transport materiel to the theatres of military operations, or both. It is a systematica ...
when German
Zeppelins
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...
and aircraft indiscriminately dropped bombs on cities in Britain and France. These nations, fighting against
Germany and its allies in the war, retaliated with their own air-raids (see
Strategic bombing during World War I
Strategic bombing during World War I (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918) was principally carried out by the United Kingdom and France for the Entente Powers and Germany for the Central Powers. All the belligerents of World War I eventually engage ...
). A few years after World War I, a draft convention was proposed in 1923: ''The Hague Rules of Air Warfare''.
[The Hague Rules of Air Warfare](_blank)
1922–12 to 1923–02, ''this convention was never adopted. The draft contained a number of articles which would have directly affected how militaries used aerial bombardment and defended against it: articles 18, 22 and 24. The law was, however, never adopted in legally binding form
[Rules concerning the Control of Wireless Telegraphy in Time of War and Air Warfare](_blank)
from the International Committee of the Red Cross
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC; french: Comité international de la Croix-Rouge) is a humanitarian organization which is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and it is also a three-time Nobel Prize Laureate. State parties (signato ...
'
section on international humanitarian law
verified 26 February 2005 as all major powers criticized it as being unrealistic.
The
Greco-German arbitration tribunal of 1927–1930 arguably established the subordination of the law of air warfare to the law of ground warfare. It found that the 1907 Hague Convention on ''"The Laws and Customs of War on Land"'' applied to the German attacks in Greece during World War I: This concerned both Article 25 and Article 26.
Jefferson Reynolds in an article in
''The Air Force Law Review'' argues that "if international law is not enforced, persistent violations can conceivably be adopted as customary practice, permitting conduct that was once prohibited." Even if the Greco-German arbitration tribunal findings had established the rules for aerial bombardment, by 1945, the
belligerents
A belligerent is an individual, group, country, or other entity that acts in a hostile manner, such as engaging in combat. The term comes from the Latin ''bellum gerere'' ("to wage war"). Unlike the use of ''belligerent'' as an adjective meaning ...
of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
had ignored the preliminary bombardment procedures that the Greco-German arbitration tribunal had recognized.
[Javier Guisández Gómez ]
The Law of Air Warfare
' 30 June 1998 International Review of the Red Cross no 323, p. 347–363
![German Heinkel He 111 bombing Warsaw 1939](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/German_Heinkel_He_111_bombing_Warsaw_1939.jpg)
The German bombings of
Guernica and
Durango in Spain in 1937 during the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
of 1936-1939 and the Japanese aerial attacks on crowded Chinese cities during the
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...
in 1937–38 attracted worldwide condemnation, prompting the
League of Nations
The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...
to pass a resolution
[Protection of Civilian Populations Against Bombing From the Air in Case of War](_blank)
Unanimous resolution of the League of Nations Assembly, 30 September 1938, verified 26 February 2005 that called for the protection of civilian populations against bombardment from the air. In response to the resolution passed by the League of Nations,
a draft convention in Amsterdam of 1938
[Draft Convention for the Protection of Civilian Populations Against New Engines of War. Amsterdam, 1938](_blank)
verified 26 February 2005 would have provided specific definitions of what constituted an "undefended" town, excessive civilian casualties and appropriate warning. This draft convention makes the standard of being undefended quite high – any military units or anti-aircraft within the radius qualifies a town as defended. This convention, like the 1923 draft, was not ratified - nor even close to ratification - when hostilities broke out in Europe in 1939. While the two conventions offer a guideline to what the belligerent powers were considering before the war, neither of these documents came to be legally binding.
At the start of World War II in 1939, following an appeal by
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
, President of the then neutral United States, the major European powers, including Britain and Germany, agreed not to bomb civilian targets outside combat zones: Britain agreeing provided that the other powers also refrained. (see
the policy on strategic bombing at the start of the World War II). However, this was not honored, as belligerents of both sides in the war adopted a policy of indiscriminate bombing of enemy cities. Throughout World War II, cities like
Chongqing,
Warsaw,
Rotterdam,
London,
Coventry,
Stalingrad
Volgograd ( rus, Волгогра́д, a=ru-Volgograd.ogg, p=vəɫɡɐˈɡrat), geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn (russian: Цари́цын, Tsarítsyn, label=none; ) (1589–1925), and Stalingrad (russian: Сталингра́д, Stal ...
,
Hamburg,
Dresden,
Tokyo,
Hiroshima, and Nagasaki suffered aerial bombardment, causing untold numbers of destroyed buildings and the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians.
After World War II, the massive destruction of non-combatant targets inflicted during the war prompted the victorious
Allies to address the issue when developing the
Nuremberg Charter
The Charter of the International Military Tribunal – Annex to the Agreement for the prosecution and punishment of the major war criminals of the European Axis (usually referred to as the Nuremberg Charter or London Charter) was the decree issue ...
of August 1945 to establish the procedures and laws for conducting the
Nuremberg Trials
The Nuremberg trials were held by the Allies of World War II, Allies against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany, for plotting and carrying out invasions of other countries, and other crimes, in World War II.
Between 1939 and 1945 ...
(1945-1946). Article 6(b) of the Charter thus condemned the "wanton destruction of cities, towns or villages, or devastation not justified by military necessity" and classified it as a violation of the laws or customs of war, therefore, making it a
war crime. This provision was similarly used at the
Tokyo Trials of 1946–1948 to try Japanese military and civilian leaders in accordance with the
Tokyo Charter
The International Military Tribunal for the Far East Charter (IMTFE Charter), also known as the Tokyo Charter, was the decree issued by General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers in Allied-occupied Japan, on January ...
(January 1946) for illegal conducts committed during the
Pacific War
The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...
of 1941-1945. However, due to the absence of
positive or specific
customary international humanitarian law
International humanitarian law (IHL), also referred to as the laws of armed conflict, is the law that regulates the conduct of war (''jus in bello''). It is a branch of international law that seeks to limit the effects of armed conflict by prot ...
prohibiting illegal conducts of aerial warfare in World War II, the indiscriminate bombing of enemy cities was excluded from the category of war crimes at the Nuremberg and Tokyo Trials, therefore, no
Axis
An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to:
Mathematics
* Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis
* Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinat ...
officers and leaders were prosecuted for authorizing this practice. Furthermore, the
United Nations War Crimes Commission
The United Nations War Crimes Commission (UNWCC) initially called the United Nations Commission for the Investigation of War Crimes, was a commission of the United Nations that investigated allegations of war crimes committed by Nazi Germany and ...
received no notice of records of trial concerning the illegal conduct of air warfare. Chris Jochnick and Roger Normand in their article ''The Legitimation of Violence 1: A Critical History of the Laws of War'' explain that: "By leaving out morale bombing and other attacks on civilians unchallenged, the Tribunal conferred legal legitimacy on such practices."
![Nagasakibomb](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Nagasakibomb.jpg)
In 1963 the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki became the subject of a Japanese
judicial review
Judicial review is a process under which executive, legislative and administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. A court with authority for judicial review may invalidate laws, acts and governmental actions that are incompat ...
in ''
Ryuichi Shimoda et al. v. The State
''Ryuichi Shimoda et al. v. The State'' was an unsuccessful case brought before the Tokyo District Court, District Court of Tokyo by a group of five survivors of the atomic attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, who claimed the action was illegal under ...
''. The review draws several distinctions which are pertinent to both conventional and atomic
aerial bombardment
An airstrike, air strike or air raid is an offensive operation carried out by aircraft. Air strikes are delivered from aircraft such as blimps, balloons, fighters, heavy bombers, ground attack aircraft, attack helicopters and drones. The offic ...
. Based on international law found in
Hague Convention of 1907
The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 are a series of international treaties and declarations negotiated at two international peace conferences at The Hague in the Netherlands. Along with the Geneva Conventions, the Hague Conventions were amo ...
''IV – The Laws and Customs of War on Land'' and ''IX – Bombardment by Naval Forces in Time of War'', and the ''Hague Draft Rules of Air Warfare of 1922–1923'' the Court drew a distinction between "Targeted Aerial Bombardment" and indiscriminate area bombardment (which the court called "Blind Aerial Bombardment"), and also a distinction between a defended and an undefended city.
[ Wikisource:Ryuichi Shimoda et al. v. The State I. Evaluation of the act of bombing according to international law: Paragraph 6] "In principle, a defended city is a city which resists an attempt at occupation by land forces. A city even with defence installations and armed forces cannot be said to be a defended city if it is far away from the battlefield and is not in immediate danger of occupation by the enemy."
[ Wikisource:Ryuichi Shimoda et al. v. The State I. Evaluation of the act of bombing according to international law: Paragraph 7.] The court ruled that blind aerial bombardment is permitted only in the immediate vicinity of the operations of land forces and that only targeted aerial bombardment of military installations is permitted further from the front. It also ruled that, in such an event, the incidental death of civilians and the destruction of civilian property during targeted aerial bombardment was not unlawful.
[ Wikisource:Ryuichi Shimoda et al. v. The State I. Evaluation of the act of bombing according to international law: Paragraph 10] The court acknowledged that the concept of a military objective was enlarged under conditions of
total war
Total war is a type of warfare that includes any and all civilian-associated resources and infrastructure as legitimate military targets, mobilizes all of the resources of society to fight the war, and gives priority to warfare over non-combata ...
, but stated that the distinction between the two did not disappear.
[ Wikisource:Ryuichi Shimoda et al. v. The State I. Evaluation of the act of bombing according to international law: Paragraph 9] The court also ruled that when military targets were concentrated in a comparatively small area, and where defence installations against air raids were very strong, that when the destruction of non-military objectives is small in proportion to the large military interests, or necessity, such destruction is lawful.
Thus, in the judgement of the Court, because of the immense power of the atom bombs, and the distance from enemy land forces, the atomic bombings of both Hiroshima and Nagasaki "was an illegal act of hostilities under international law as it existed at that time, as an indiscriminate bombardment of undefended cities".
[ Wikisource:Ryuichi Shimoda et al. v. The State I. Evaluation of the act of bombing according to international law: Paragraph 8.]
Not all governments and scholars of international law agree with the analysis and conclusions of the Shimoda review, because it was not based on positive
international humanitarian law
International humanitarian law (IHL), also referred to as the laws of armed conflict, is the law that regulates the conduct of war (''jus in bello''). It is a branch of international law that seeks to limit the effects of armed conflict by prot ...
. Colonel Javier Guisández Gómez, at the
International Institute of Humanitarian Law
The International Institute of Humanitarian Law (IIHL) is an independent, “non-profit, humanitarian association having social values as its objectives”, founded in 1970 in Sanremo, Italy. Its headquarters are situated in Villa Ormond, while a ...
in
San Remo, points out:
John R. Bolton
John Robert Bolton (born November 20, 1948) is an American attorney, diplomat, Republican consultant, and political commentator. He served as the 25th United States Ambassador to the United Nations from 2005 to 2006, and as the 26th United Stat ...
, (
(2001–2005) and
U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations
The United States ambassador to the United Nations is the leader of the U.S. delegation, the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. The position is formally known as the permanent representative of the United States of America to the United Nations ...
(2005–2006)), explained in 2001 why the USA should not adhere to the
Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court
The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court is the treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC). It was adopted at a diplomatic conference in Rome, Italy on 17 July 1998Michael P. Scharf (August 1998)''Results of the R ...
:
International law since 1945
In the post war environment, a series of treaties governing the
laws of war
The law of war is the component of international law that regulates the conditions for initiating war (''jus ad bellum'') and the conduct of warring parties (''jus in bello''). Laws of war define sovereignty and nationhood, states and territor ...
were adopted starting in 1949. These
Geneva Conventions
upright=1.15, Original document in single pages, 1864
The Geneva Conventions are four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish international legal standards for humanitarian treatment in war. The singular term ''Geneva Conven ...
would come into force, in no small part, because of a general reaction against the practices of the Second World War. Although the
Fourth Geneva Convention
The Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, more commonly referred to as the Fourth Geneva Convention and abbreviated as GCIV, is one of the four treaties of the Geneva Conventions. It was adopted in Augus ...
attempted to erect some legal defenses for civilians in time of war, the bulk of the Fourth Convention devoted to explicating civilian rights in occupied territories, and no explicit attention is paid to the problems of bombardment.
In 1977,
Protocol I
Protocol I (sometimes referred to as Additional Protocol I or AP 1) is a 1977 amendment protocol to the Geneva Conventions relating to the protection of victims of ''international conflicts'', extending to "armed conflicts in which peoples are ...
was adopted as an amendment to the Geneva Conventions, prohibiting the deliberate or
indiscriminate attack In international humanitarian law and international criminal law, an indiscriminate attack is a military attack that fails to distinguish between military objectives and protected (civilian) objects. Indiscriminate attacks strike both military and ...
of civilians and civilian objects, even if the area contained military objectives, and the attacking force must take precautions and steps to spare the lives of civilians and civilian objects as possible. However, forces occupying near densely populated areas must avoid locating military objectives near or in densely populated areas and endeavor to remove civilians from the vicinity of military objectives. Failure to do so would cause a higher civilian death toll resulting from bombardment by the attacking force and the defenders would be held responsible, even criminally liable, for these deaths. This issue was addressed because drafters of Protocol I pointed out historical examples such as Japan in World War II who often dispersed legitimate military and industrial targets (almost two-thirds of production was from small factories of thirty or fewer persons or in wooden homes, which were clustered around the factories) throughout
urban area
An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, t ...
s in many of its cities either with the sole purpose of preventing enemy forces from bombing these targets or using its civilian casualties caused by enemy bombardment as propaganda value against the enemy. This move made Japan vulnerable to
area bombardment
In military aviation, area bombardment (or area bombing) is a type of aerial bombardment in which bombs are dropped over the general area of a target. The term "area bombing" came into prominence during World War II.
Area bombing is a form of str ...
and the
U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) adopted a policy of
carpetbombing which destroyed 69 Japanese cities with either
incendiary bombs
Incendiary weapons, incendiary devices, incendiary munitions, or incendiary bombs are weapons designed to start fires or destroy sensitive equipment using fire (and sometimes used as anti-personnel weaponry), that use materials such as napalm, th ...
or atomic bombs, with the deaths of 381,000-500,000 Japanese people.
However, Protocol I also states that locating military objectives near civilians "shall not release the Parties to the conflict from their legal obligations with respect to the civilian population and civilians." (Article 51, Para 8)
The
International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordanc ...
gave an
advisory opinion
An advisory opinion is an opinion issued by a court or a commission like an election commission that does not have the effect of adjudicating a specific legal case, but merely advises on the constitutionality or interpretation of a law. Some cou ...
in July 1996 on the ''
Legality of the Threat Or Use Of Nuclear Weapons
''Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons'ICJ 3] is a landmark international law case, where the International Court of Justice gave an advisory opinion stating that while the threat or use of nuclear weapons would generally be contrary ...
''. The court ruled that "
ere is in neither customary nor international law any comprehensive and universal prohibition of the threat or use of nuclear weapons." However, by a split vote, it also found that "
e threat or use of nuclear weapons would generally be contrary to the rules of international law applicable in armed conflict." The Court stated that it could not definitively conclude whether the threat or use of nuclear weapons would be lawful or unlawful in an extreme circumstance of self-defense, in which the very survival of the state would be at stake.
[ICJ: Legality of the threat or use of nuclear weapons](_blank)
See also
*
Aerial bombing of cities
The aerial bombing of cities is an optional element of strategic bombing, which became widespread in warfare during World War I. The bombing of cities grew to a vast scale in World War II, and is still practiced today. The development of aeri ...
*
Area bombardment
In military aviation, area bombardment (or area bombing) is a type of aerial bombardment in which bombs are dropped over the general area of a target. The term "area bombing" came into prominence during World War II.
Area bombing is a form of str ...
*
Carpet bombing
Carpet bombing, also known as saturation bombing, is a large area bombardment done in a progressive manner to inflict damage in every part of a selected area of land. The phrase evokes the image of explosions completely covering an area, in th ...
*
Civilian casualties of strategic bombing
Civilians under international humanitarian law are "persons who are not members of the armed forces" and they are not "combatants if they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war". It is slightly different from a non-combatant, b ...
*
Roerich Pact
The Treaty on the Protection of Artistic and Scientific Institutions and Historic Monuments or Roerich Pact is an inter-American treaty. The most important idea of the Roerich Pact is the legal recognition that the defense of cultural objects is ...
*
Strategic bombing
Strategic bombing is a military strategy used in total war with the goal of defeating the enemy by destroying its morale, its economic ability to produce and transport materiel to the theatres of military operations, or both. It is a systematica ...
*
Tactical bombing
Tactical bombing is aerial bombing aimed at targets of immediate military value, such as combatants, military installations, or military equipment. This is in contrast to strategic bombing, or attacking enemy cities and factories to cripple fu ...
*
Terror bombing
Strategic bombing is a military strategy used in total war with the goal of defeating the enemy by destroying its morale, its economic ability to produce and transport materiel to the theatres of military operations, or both. It is a systematic ...
Notes
References
*Francisco Javier Guisández Gómez, (a colonel in the Spanish Air Force
ICRC: "The Law of Air Warfare" International Review of the Red Cross no 323, p. 347–363
*Joan T. Phillips.
', May 2006. Bibliographer, Muir S. Fairchild Research Information Center Maxwell (United States) Air Force Base, Alabama.
*Jefferson D. Reynolds. ''"Collateral Damage on the 21st century battlefield: Enemy exploitation of the law of armed conflict, and the struggle for a moral high ground".''
Air Force Law Review
The Judge Advocate General's Corps also known as the "JAG Corps" or " JAG" is the legal arm of the United States Air Force.
History
The United States Air Force became a separate military service in September 1947. On June 25, 1948, Congress es ...
Volume 56, 2005'(PDF) pp. 4–108
*Charles Rousseau, ''Le droit des conflits armés'' Editions Pedone, Paris, (1983)
Further reading
* — Commentary on the early conventions including details not yet in this article.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aerial Bombardment And International Law
International law
International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...
Law of war