CF Code of Conduct and US/Brit war crimes

[Michael Dorosh]

Given the bad press a couple of bad apples in the US and British forces in the Gulf are receiving, and some Canadian media mentions of Somalia, I wanted to put up the CF Code of Conduct onto our regimental website. I‘ve drafted a page but not yet gone live with it.

My desire was to include some historical references to make it less dry, and also demonstrate that the CF Code of Conduct is really nothing new, we‘ve practiced it all along even if we didn‘t codify it.

I‘d appreciate any comments, even if just to correct spelling. I don‘t think I‘ve betrayed any operational secrets as the pam it is based on is available online from the public internet site. I‘ve quote verbatim from both the CF manual as well as the Lessons Learned pam, as well as editing and composing other parts.

Thoughts?

My main impetus for doing this was thinking about mothers of prospective recruits who see this stuff in the news today, and the reminders of Somalia, and wonder what their little Johnny is getting into. It‘s also written with Johnny in mind, and hey, a little reminder for currently serving soldiers won‘t hurt either.

http://www.calgaryhighlanders.com/codeofconduct.htm

Thanks in advance

 

[ZipperHead]

A very nice page, and I hope it helps those that would like to know what a soldier is expected to know and do. The examples really hit home the realities of warfare (in my mind).

Unfortunately, too many arm chair generals criticize everything that take place on the battlefield (particularly the events that have taken place in the last 30-40 years.... **** 24hr news channels.....). I think that every soldier (or human being for that matter) should be held fully accountable for their actions, but it is very difficult to judge those who act in the fog of war.

I would like to think that I would "do the right thing" in every circumstance, but that can‘t be determined until the time comes, and sometimes that time doesn‘t always allow for clear, rational thought. Fatigue, stress, confusion, fear, and any other number of factors can cloud a persons judgment, and the difference between life and death of the person at the other end of the trajectory of your C7 rifle, 9mm pistol, 25mm cannon, etc can sometimes be measured in milliseconds.

I know that some people will always use war as an excuse to engage in unlawful/immoral conduct ("I was just following orders....") and to them I would say "Do you have any final words?".

I thank my lucky stars that I was born in this country, free of war and internal strife for the last 2 centuries (almost) and the fact that my children can live and play without the worries that my mother did (being bombed by the Russians in Finland in WW2). War is not pretty (I have witnessed the aftermath in the Balkans, Cyprus, Middle East and parts of Europe) and hope that the leaders (I will resign from obvious sarcasm here) of the free world could learn from the lessons of the past.

Anyway, a very good effort on your part, Michael, for those that serve (and I would hope they already have that info down cold) and those that are interested in undertaking serving their country.

Allan

 

[muskrat89]

Michael - Great page, and couldn‘t find any typos or spelling errors.

 

[clasper]

Michael-

Good web page. I would think that Mommy, Daddy, and the significant other would be very interested in this when Johnny goes overseas. And the historical examples are a nice touch- they really help illustrate the rules.

And now onto administrative matters (I noticed a few typos):

Rule 1):
Attacking non-hostile forces or objects not useful for military purposes is not only unlawful but also unsound from an operationaly point of view

â Å“operationalyâ ? should be â Å“operationalâ ?

Rule 3):
Prohibited Weapons and Ammunition: incluse bullets designed to expand or flatten easily...

â Å“incluseâ ? should be â Å“includesâ ?

Rule 10):
Also included are those who are engaged exclusively in the prevention of disease, staff engaged exlusively in the administration of medical units and establishments, and chaplains of the armed forces.

â Å“exlusivelyâ ? should be â Å“exclusivelyâ ?

Conclusion:
As can also be seen, when one side commits to high standards of conduct, it encourages the "enemy" or opposing forces to also consider adopted similar standards.

â Å“adoptedâ ? should be â Å“adoptingâ ?

The use of lethal force is an awesome responsibility, and the Canadian Armed Forces is the only instutition in Canada with permission to use it in the normal course of its duties.

â Å“instutitionâ ? should be â Å“institutionâ ?

 

[Michael Dorosh]

Excellent, thanks for the comments guys. Off to edit, thanks for picking up on those typos. Much appreciated.

 

[muskrat89]

Dang Clasper - good catches. Must have been past my bedtime

I‘m embarrassed to point out that I‘m the Asst Editor at the Arizona Outdoorsman magazine, appointed for my diabolical ability to root out typos... darn

 

[Jarnhamar]

(Regarding code of conduct and war crimes)
http://www.antiwar.com/news/?articleid=2444

Heres some pictures of the prisoner abuse going on in iraq.
What do you guys think is an appropiate punishment? You think they will try to pull some kind of defense like the vietnam syndrome?
Would this be classified as a war crime?

 

[Cpl Kendall]

Originally posted by Ghost778:
[qb] (Regarding code of conduct and war crimes)
http://www.antiwar.com/news/?articleid=2444

Heres some pictures of the prisoner abuse going on in iraq.
What do you guys think is an appropiate punishment? You think they will try to pull some kind of defense like the vietnam syndrome?
Would this be classified as a war crime? [/qb]

Appropriate punishment would probably be lifetime imprisonment at Levenworth. At the very least a dishonorable discharge and a few years in the slammer ala Pvt Brown from the Airborne. I don‘t think that using PTSD or anything similar as a defense would fly, it‘s pretty obvious that they knew exactly what they were doing. In my opinion this is a war crime, it certainly violates the Geneva Convention as well as numerous US UCMJ regs.