Arthur C. Helton - Intro, Training the Military

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n trodu ct ion

Training the Military/BYARTHURC

HIS section o n The Training of the Military: Na tional Law and

the Teaching of the G eneva Co nventions follows the discussion

on jus t an d unjust war. Although the previous au thors pose pro-

found and fundamental questions about the legitimacy of the use

of force, the papers in this section assume the legality of the use

of military force (that issue is, however, also touched on in the

papers that follow). The core issue for our inquiry involves the

methods and the modes of the use of force—the rules of the

game, if you will. Some would call the subject the honor of the

warrior in the conduct of armed confiict; that is, regulating the

use of deadly force.

Not many of us have had the opportunity to delve deeply into

the substance and structure of the Geneva Conventions. The

extraordinary' times in which we find ourselves—a war on terror-

ism—has changed that. The treatment of the detainees held by

the United States military at the Guantanamo Bay naval base in

Cuba has initiated a popular and detailed debate over the provi-

sions of the Geneva Conventions—notably the third Geneva Con-

vention of 1949 and the first Protocol Additional of 1977, relating

to the protection of prisoners of war.

A study of humanitarian law would find ample references to

terms such as war and terrorism. But we would not necessarily

see specific reference to a war on terrorism. Th e curr en t situa-

tion presents a series of dilemmas and challenges to a legal frame-

work that has been refined over half a century and that can draw

on even earlier antecedents. The new methods of war fighting,



9 4 8 S O C I A L R E S E A R C H

also pres ent new challenges, includ ing legal con cern s and respon-

sibili t ies in the conduct of war. The controversy regarding what

ha pp en ed at the Je ni n refugee c am p on th e West Bank in large

m easu re was to be an inq uir \ ' by the U nited Nations into w heth er

or not disproport ionate force was used in the conduct of a con-

flict styled as a form of self-defense in the war on terrorism. But

the quest ion was rendered moot when Israel objected to the

inquir) ' .

A m ong th e terms th at we will no t f ind in the lexicon of hu m an -

itarian law is collateral dam ag e. We will see th e issue discussed

in terms of military and civilian objects in the course of war fight-

ing. In many ways, humanitar ian law has become a template for

human r ights groups to monitor the conduct of mil i tary opera-

tions,

including the ambiguous c ircumstances in which we f ind

ourselves today This will be very much part of the story in terms

of reporting on Israeli military actions in the Palestinian territo-

ries.

Or in Mghanis tan , and perhaps I raq and the Phi l ippines .

In this section a distinguished panel of military law experts

addresses these quest ions, a l l of which have profound implica-

tions for military training. The discussion lacks, however, a rep-

resentat ive f rom the Internat ional Committee of the Red Cross

(ICRC), which has a special office under the Geneva Conven-

tions.

The agenc>' ' s commentar ies are an important source of

do ctri ne an d inform atio n ab ou t treatv' obliga tions in th e field of

hu m ani ta r ian law. T he ICRC is m ore th an a n on go vern m enta l

organization since it has a legal personality in international law

by virtt ie of the special responsibili t ies im po sed on state parties

by the Geneva Conventions to recognize the special posi t ion of

the ICRC, an d to d issemina te informat ion abo ut the

treat}'

pro-

visions. This dissem ination responsibil i ty includ es th e t ra inin g of

the mil i tar \ .



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Arthur C. Helton - Intro, Training the Military