Page 97 - NAVAL SCIENCE 3 TEXTBOOK

102 NAVAL l.:NOWLEDGE

fore, may not adopt (111)' means to intlkt injury 011 the enemy. Rules
exist so belligerents do not eSCillate a contlic! to total war, with all
of its devastating implic.ltions.
The limitation on land and naval \\',lrfare ilre, in general, simi-
lar. The first group of restrictions concerns the conduct of the war
itself-for example, prohibitions on the use of certain weapons
such as poisons, poison gases, and "dumdum" bullets. The second
group protects persons who are not involved in the actual conduct
of the W,ll": civilians, sick .1l1d wounded members of the armed
forces, and prisoners of Will'.
The three basic principles underlying the rules of civilized
\\'art~lre have historically been humanity. chivalry, and 1l1ilitary
necessity. Of these, humanity is unquestionably the most impor-
tant. It is the basis for all prohibitions imposed by international
law on belligerents for the purpose of limiting excessive violence.
Chi"illry involves the qualities of bravery, honor, courtesy, respect
for women, protection of the weak, generosity, and t~lirness to ene~
mies. The principle of nl.ilit,l1'Y necessity permits a belligerent to
apply only the degree and kind of regubted force not otherwise
prohibited by the laws of war. The rules of international law come
above military necessity, because the latter does not constitute an
.lCceptable defense for lawlessness in the conduct of war.

War at Sea
The major distinction between land W<lrt~He and war at sea lies
in the fact that land warfare takes place primarily all the territory
of one or se\'Cral of the belligerents, while sea warl~He is mostly
fought all the high seas. These high seas are not within the sover-
eignty of either belligerent but are open to hlwfuluse by illl nations
When on liberty in a foreign port, like these Sailors in Ho Chi Minh of the world. In sllch circlllllstances, there are bound to be con-
City in Vietnam, crew members from a Navy ship are subject to local
law and jurisdiction. (John Beeman) tlicts between the interests of the belligerents, whose purpose is to
destroy the naval power and maritime commerce of the enem)',
hoped for was a general acceptance of Illllllanit<lrian rules of war- and the legitimate interests of neutrals who seek to carryon their
fare. Therefore, the Convention on Laws ilnd CUStOlllS of \.\r ar ordinary commerce with all nations, including the belligerents.
states that if any laws concerning certain aspects of war arc clbscnt \Vhile humanity, chivalry, and military neccssit}' ilPpJy equally to
from the code, "then the inhabitants and belligerents reI1lilin under war on land and at sea, in the latter, private enem), property, and in
the protection and the rule of the principles of the hlW of n<1tions, some instances, neutral propert)', is subject to confiscillion by bel-
as they [have been] established among civilized peoples, from the ligerent warships. In land \\'art~ue, such private propert)' is gener-
laws of humanity, cllld the dictates of the public conscience," all)' required to be len undisturbed b)' the opposing forces.
The Hague Conventions state that the rules of war do not apply Certain weapons that arc generilily prohibited by international
except between contracting powers, and then only if all the bellig- law were mentioned in the last section. in addition, there are prohibi-
erents are parties to the conventions. Even in \Vorld \Var II, some tions against the use of certain types of mines and torpedoes unique
of the belligerents had not ratified the conventions. After the war, to naval wart~lre. The Hague Conventions forbid the laying of unan-
when defendants in war crimes trials from these countries claimed chored, automatic contact mines, unless they will become harm-
imlllunity because their nations had not ratified the Laws of '"Val', less within one hour after the person laying them ccases to control
the judges rejected this defense. Today the rules of W,ll" are consid- them. Autolllatic minefields are not supposed to be laid solely for
ered customary rules of international law and are binding on all the purpose of intercepting cOlllmercial shipping, and preCillitiollS
nations, whether or not they h'1\'e signed specific agreements. are supposed to be taken for the security of peaceful neutral ship-
Rules of wclrl~lre are restrictive; they are designed to restrain ping. Communist forces consistently violated the rules concerning
the belligerents from the excessive use of force. Belligerents, there- mines in both the Kore'lI1 and Vietnam \·Vars. They indiscriminately