From: John Cuccia 

On Thu, 30 Mar 2006 15:06:06 -0500, Monte Davis
 wrote:

>John Cuccia  wrote:
>
>>The "laws and
>>customs or war" are peacetime constructs which have no influence on
>>wartime conduct.
>
>I can't agree. The professionalization of European war *did* lead to
>less misery for civilians in the 18th and 19th centuries. (The 20th
>told itself it had invented total war, when in fact it had simply gone
>back to the 17th and before.)

Don't get me wrong, Monte.  I think the idea that war can be waged
according to rules designed to limit damage to non-combatants is a noble
one, but I also think that "from each according to his ability, to
each according to his needs" is noble.  Neither seem to survive their
collisions with human nature.

>The bad rep of gas in WWI -- regardless of whether it was practical,
>or more or less "inhumane" than bullets and shells -- *did* constrain
>its use in WWII.
>
>The bad rep of nuclear weapons *has* constrained their use against
>non-nuclear powers for 60 years.
>
>That constraints like these -- and on a smaller scale, the issues of
>POWs at stake in this thread -- are fragile, incomplete, and liable to
>be discarded in desperation, or by an evil regime, doesn't mean
>they're without value. They get stronger, and gain wider adherence,
>with time.

Do they really?  Things like the Bush Administration's plan to further
development of battlefield nukes makes me skeptical.

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