Category: War

Having been one of the greatest bloodsheds in human history and costing a tremendous number of lives, WWII will remain a tragic mark on the legacy of international relationships. Although WWI could theoretically be seen as the first global conflict that could have prepared the humankind to another war of the same scale, the outcomes of WWI and the extent thereof are nowhere near the violent and devastating force that WWII represented (Grimsrud 1). While being spatially distanced from the military conflict that grasped the entirety of Europe at the time, the United States also experienced the drastic effects of WWII, including the tremendous number of human lives devoured by the war, as well as the economic wasteland that WWII left. Although the war is long over, the effects thereof still echo in the modern political and sociocultural setting, being a grim reminder of the tragic past. Despite often being labeled as the “good war,” namely, the fight against the epitome of evil that Nazism represented, WWII cannot be seen as morally good but, instead, should be viewed as one of the alternatives to addressing tyranny of the Nazi propaganda.

Taking the implications of WWII a bit further, one may concede that it may have created a justification for other military confrontations as the methods of resolving political and social conflicts. After WWII had been termed as the “good war,” one could infer that violent actions against an opponent could be morally justified and preferred over more peaceful actions when performed for the sake of the ostensible greater good and the idea of “redemptive violence” (Grimsrud 2). As a result, the possibility of war as a tool for achieving political, economic, sociocultural, or any other kind of goals may be ultimately seen as possible, which is an entirely inadmissible course of development for global politics.

However, considering the effects that mobilization had on the U.S. and especially on the state economy, one will have to admit that the rapid response toward the threat and the efficient use of resources made it possible to prompt economic growth and manage the problem of unemployment. According to Foner, “As during World War I, but on a larger scale, the wartime mobilization expanded the size and scope of government and energized the economy” (862). Given the massive economic upheaval that could be observed in the U.S., the boost that the U.S. economic development received could be attributed to one of the side outcomes of the war.

Nonetheless, the slight rise in industrial growth could not possibly justify the loss of millions of lives. For example, the Soviet Union alone “lost more than 20 million dead and suffered vast devastation during the war” (Foner 952). Moreover, the legacy of WWII involves the creation of massive contradictions on political and social levels between nations, causing vast controversies in the global setting. The idea that something as horrendous as war could be ethically justifiable and even supported as the method of resolving a conflict seems to be the violation of every principle of diplomacy and the principles of peaceful relationships and negotiation as the basis of intercultural relationships. Moreover, the fact that WWII could become the leeway into using war as the method of resolving a confrontation would nullify the value of human life, driving the significance of a person to that one of a battle unit.

Thus, the ethical legacy of WWII is highly questionable, which suggests that it should not be lauded as the ultimate triumph over the blatantly obvious evil. While the victory obtained in the course of WWII allowed minimizing the threat that the emergent Nazi power posed to the entire world, the legacy of WWII remains a somber and grim reminder of how political relationships can easily go awry once wrong choices are made (Grimsrud 244). Although WWII “produced a radical redistribution of world power,” it ultimately caused unsurmountable harm to all states involved (Foner 944). The loss of millions of lives will always be seen as the main outcome of WWII, souring the victory and reminding that no war can be ethically good and be seen as the right decision to make. Although WWII was justified, it was not an ethical or, worse yet, “good” war. Instead, it was a mess of global proportions and a distortion of the global concept of political relationships.

Although WWII is usually seen as morally good and ethically positive, the battle was far too much of bloodshed to warrant this title; instead, it needs to be recognized as an inevitable evil that allowed meeting the goal of defeating the Nazi regime. While other alternatives existed at the time, the choice of military actions was admittedly a legitimate response, yet the number of lives that it took and the extent of social, economic, and political devastation that it brought onto nearly every country in the world signified that WWII was at the very least morally problematic. Thus, the notion of WWII being the “good war” ultimately implies misrepresenting the complexity of the actual conflict that took place at the time. While the presence of the obvious evil in the form of Nazism during WWII could not be denied, the legacy of WWII is still filled with inherent tragedy as the disaster that could have been avoided if appropriate precaution measures had been taken and different decisions had been made.

Works Cited

Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty! 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2016.

Grimsrud, Ted. The Good War That Wasn’t – And Why It Matters: The Moral Legacy of World War II. Cascade, 2014.

Only 4 centuries of the whole “recorded” history, the humanity lived in piece. All the other time peoples were engaged in war actions for different purposes and aims. The development battle leading techniques and technologies of some nations prevailed and overwhelmed even the agricultural technologies. But almost nobody cares about the life of an ordinary soldier, who stayed on a battlefield, or survived, but stayed disabled.

World War One happened to be the first war in the history, which changed the world almost completely. It changed the world structure and the public moods allover the world, as the people were greatly expressed by the magnitude of the battles, and the scales of the sufferings and casualties. The wave of pacifism captured the world after the end of the World War One, and everyone supposed that humanity will never lead wars again.

The aim of the present work is to view the life of an ordinary soldier of the First World War (or the Great War, as it was called), how it is viewed in the literature of the beginning of the 20^th century. Henry Barbusse and his novel “Under fire” is one of the most well known literary work devoted to the description of the ways of life of ordinary French soldiers, who survived the war, and than had to get used to all the lies, which were told about the war in the interests of those, who wanted to earn on the sufferings of the others.

One of the most impressive moments of the book is the description of the Verdun battle, which acquired the tints of terrific colors under the pen of talented novelist, who had survived the war himself. But Henry Barbusse sheds a lot probably in order to prevent the readers from all the horrors of the battles. Thus, he sheds some terrific moments about Verdun Battle – the most horrorfull battles in the history of the World War One, which is also called a Verdun Slaughter. A French soldier describes the horrors of a bombardment:…When you hear the whistling in the distance your entire body preventively crunches together to prepare for the enormous explosions. Every new explosion is a new attack, a new fatigue, a new affliction. Even nerves of the hardest of steel, are not capable of dealing with this kind of pressure. The moment comes when the blood rushes to your head, the fever burns inside your body and the nerves, numbed with tiredness, are not capable of reacting to anything anymore. It is as if you are tied to a pole and threatened by a man with a hammer. First the hammer is swung backwards in order to hit hard, then it is swung forwards, only missing your scull by an inch, into the splintering pole. In the end you just surrender. Even the strength to guard yourself from splinters now fails you. There is even hardly enough strength left to pray to God. ¹

A witness tells:…We all carried the smell of dead bodies with us. The bread we ate, the stagnant water we drank… Everything we touched smelled of decomposition due to the fact that the earth surrounding us was packed with dead bodies….

…a network of elongated pits in which the nightly excreta are piling up. The bottom is covered with a swampy layer from which the feet have to extricate themselves with every step. It smells dreadfully of urine all over….

A French stretcher-bearer describes the consequences of a flame-thrower attack:…Some grenadiers returned with ghastly wounds: hair and eyebrows singed, almost not human anymore, black creatures with bewildered eyes….²

The life in the trenches is described not only in fiction, but the also in the specific journals. The description of the trench itself may help to imagine the reality of the soldiers’ life. Better trenches would be about seven feet in depth and four till six feet wide. Sometimes sand bags lined the sides of the trench otherwise a kind trelliswork wall of hazel subdivisions was used (a bit like barrier fences). Boarding would be laid in the base. On the edge of the trench were sand bags and gibed rope. Repeatedly, allied and enemy trenches could be at a distance of at least 50 feet.

Here and there trenches were correctly dug into the earth to supply protection when the battle wasn’t too extreme. But the shelter was not reliable enough, as in summer the trench was subjected to the hot sun and in winter to heavy rain and snow. The rain usually filled the trench and water soaked in through the walls leaving the troops up to their knees in thick, stinking mud that made any movement difficult. There was not any sanitation care and rats could appear in the trenches, which aggravated the conditions. Dysentery and trench foot were the most widespread deceases. There could be no reprieve for front line troops for weeks on end. Even a near miss from arms shell could crumple a trench or cause dugout to crumple burying alive the soldiers who happened to be unlucky stay there. The closeness of death, the horror of it and stink of it, the horrific sights of devastated bodies, and the screams of friend cut in half and the steady shooting combined to send many men insane either at the time or afterward the war. ³

The description of all the horrors of the battle and bombing which soldiers experienced staying in the trenches can be taken form any memoires. There is nothing as exhausting as the permanent, colossal bombardment as we survived last night, at the front. The night is interrupted by light as lucid as if it were day. The earth budges and shivers like jelly. And the people, who are still at the forefront, hear nothing except the drumfire, the groaning of wounded friends, the screeches of hurt horses, the wild pulsation of their own hearts, hour after hour, day after day, night after night.

The warriors plunged over like tin soldiers. Almost all the officers get injured or killed and lots of the men get killed by their own artillery fire, which was too close and consequently caused lots of victims. The losses were indexed as follows: they are killed, wounded, absent, nervous wrecks, ill and fatigued. Almost everybody suffered from dysentery. Due to the failing provisioning the men were obliged to use up their emergency portions of salty meats. They satisfied their thirst with water gathered in the shell-holes after rains. They were positioned in the village of Ville where every type of care seemed to miss. They had to construct their own housing and were given a little cacao to stop the diarrhoea. The latrines, wooden beams suspending over open holes, are engaged day and night – the holes are sealed with ooze and blood. ⁴

The following moment just could not be included in the fictional novel, as the sophisticated public would just refuse to read further. The latrines reasoned the major problems. They were completely blocked up and smell dreadfully. This stink was fought with chlorinated lime and this stink mixes with the battlefield smell of putrefaction. Men even wore their gas masks when using the latrines. ⁵

Life outside the trenches

As it has been mentioned above, Barbusse would never tell about the most terrific things during war, as the truth is really horrorfull. One of the soldiers tells about life in the periods, when the shells did not explode, and the bullets did not play their cannonade. Seven days without sleep, seven days of exhaustion, thirst and horror made these healthy men, these perfectly disciplined companies into a band of lingerers. Dangerously ill, but tranquil and satisfied, as they were now out of jeopardy and appeared to be still alive…

…At my feet two inauspicious individuals rolled the floor in misery. Their clothing and hands, their complete bodies were on fire. They looked like living torches. (The next day) watched by us on the bottom the two I had observed blazing, lay rattling. They were so unrecognizably injured that we could not make a decision on their identities. Their skin was black completely. One of them gave up the ghost that same night. In a well of lunacy the other hummed a harmony from his childhood, spoke to his wife and his mother and chatted with someone else of his village. Tears were in our eyes.

Women on the frontline

The combination of women and the war battles could be named the most paradoxical combination ever. But even inspite of this fact, women were widely engaged in the war affairs in years 1914-1918. Henry Barbusse sheds this point, and reveals only the most common things, like nursing. He never mentions in his novel, that courageous women carried away the wounded soldiers from the battle field, under the shelling, and the whistle of bullets. To write the novel including all the horrors, which women bore could be regarded as at least exaggeration, as the readers at that time, captured by the postwar wave of pacifism would not be able to perceive those horrorfull facts.

In the difference to the 1911, France practiced no war fever in the summer of 1914. The assassination of the Austrian archduke aggravated little remark; it was just one more crisis in the crisis subjected Balkans, which had already detonated into war twice in the previous three years (1912, 1913) without absorbing or much attracting France. Although a few chronicles evoked a week or so of increasing anxiety, naturally French women described the recruitment order of 1 August and the declaration of war two days afterward as totally unanticipated. ⁶

It should be mentioned, that everything started from just simple hiring of women to the jobs, previously occupied only by men, as the lack of employees occurred in the cities. Women filled lots of jobs brought into subsistence by wartime requirements. As a consequence the amount of women employed rose from 3,224,600 in July, 1914 to 4,814,600 in January 1918. Nearly 200,000 women were hired in government jobs. Half a million became office workers in private offices. Women were hired as conductors on trams and buses. A quarter of a million was engaged on the land. The greatest augment of women workers was in manufacturing. Over 700,000 of these women worked in the highly treacherous armaments industry. Industries that had beforehand excluded women hired them again. There was a meticulous stipulate for women to do heavy work such as unloading coal, fueling heating systems and building ships.⁷

Conclusion

In the conclusion it would be necessary to mention, that inspite of the fact, that Henry Barbusse experience all the possible sufferings of the war, and filled his novel with the extreme emotions and impressions of those times, he just could not afford himself subject the readers to the whole truth of the wartime, as at first the community was fully against war t repeat it once more, and at second the uncovered facts was too terrific to appear on the pages of literature.

Footnotes

1. The First World War. (2004, May). History Today, 54, 75.
2. Under Fire (Le Feu), by Henri Barbusse, Dutton, 1917
3. Richard Bessel and David Englander, ‘Up From the Trenches: Some Recent Writings on the Soldiers of the Great War’, European Studies Review, 11 (1981): 387-394
4. G. Dallas and D. Gill, The Unknown Army: Mutinies in the British Army During World War One
5. Martha Hanna, ‘A Republic of Letters: The Epistolary Tradition in France during World War 1’, American Historical Review, 104 (2004): 1338-1361
6. Darrow, M. H. (2000). French Women and the First World War : War Stories of the Home Front /. New York: Berg.
7. Susan R. Grayzel, Women’s Identities at War: Gender, Motherhood, and Politics in Britain and France during the First World War

The outbreak of World War II was marked by the frequent defeat of the Allies not only on land but also in water. In the Pacific, where the struggle against the Japanese was waged, the enemy dominated. Its lightning-fast offensive operations were dangerous, and the situation was complicated by the fact that small allied forces were concentrated in the east since the main struggle was conducted in Europe. However, subsequently, the Allies managed to turn the tide of the war and free the territories occupied by the Japanese, and aviation was one of the main resources. The power of the bombing became the driving force of the Pacific War, in which the battles for individual islands and military bases were largely dependent on air attacks. In this work, the examples of air power will be described during the Allied military operations against the Japanese in the Pacific Ocean. Decisions on the use of aviation will be reviewed and analyzed in battles in the Coral Sea, Solomon Islands, New Guinea, the Central Pacific, and Okinawa. The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as the outcome of the hostilities, will be evaluated.

After most of the US fleet was destroyed at the beginning of World War II at the Battle of Pearl Harbor, the focus on combat aircraft was made as to the only possible strike force. The Allied armies teamed up for massive attacks in the Pacific, and airstrikes became the main means of fighting the Japanese. According to Pearson (2015), in 1942, a massive battle took place in the Coral Sea, where airpower was used massively for the first time. Aircraft fire and bombing were from different angles, which was the beginning of counterattack actions. Japanese expansion halted, and it was one of the turning points (Stern, 2019). As Logel (2014) notes, the battle in the Coral Sea was the first when infantry did not meet, and the fighting was conducted only in the air. The Japanese army suffered serious losses, although its equipment allowed it to resist by shooting down enemy planes. Hodge (2015) states that the success of the Allies was achieved largely due to the unpreparedness of enemy troops for the massive bombing. Therefore, the importance of air power during this crucial period of the war was significant.

After success in the Coral Sea, the Allied forces continued attacking the enemy from the air and drove it from the occupied territories. In 1943, the Solomon Islands were chosen as the target for further hostilities, where massive bombing continued (Pearson, 2015; Lardas, 2018). This object was strategically important for attacks because, as Newell (2015) notes, the Japanese deployed a large military airbase here, which had to be destroyed. During fierce battles with the use of artillery from air and water, the dominance of the enemy in the Pacific Ocean was lost (Yenne, 2019). All further Allied offensive operations pushed the opponent to its borders by separating enemy groups from one another. Due to the use of aircraft carriers, landings of combat fighters at sea were possible, which simplified the task. The effectiveness of bombing was high, and the military potential of the Japanese was significantly undermined. Large losses in the navy and aircraft forced them to retreat. However, separate island territories were still occupied by Japan, and despite the courage and dedication of the Allied forces, the liberation mission was not completed (Douglas, 2016).

The massive Allied offensive in the Pacific continued, and individual air battles proved the success of the strategy based on engaging combat aircraft as the main driving force. According to Yenne (2019), after battles in the Solomon Islands, liberation forces marched southwest to New Guinea, which, as Goodman and Moos (2019) state, experienced severe difficulties caused by the Japanese occupation. Despite the fact that infantry was involved, aviation forces played a dominant role, and by 1944, all the island territories of the region had been liberated (Sherman, 2017). As Nishino (2017) remarks, the Allied Army chose the tactics of conquering and retaining individual islands, and special attention was paid to those territories in which large accumulations of Japanese armament were located. The strategy of heavy fire from different angles was chosen, and using the capabilities of fighters, in particular, their maneuverability and speed, helped eliminate enemies. Moreover, massive air attacks ruled out the possibility of continuing hostilities in the liberated territories. As a result, according to Russell (2019), the Allied Army did everything possible to exclude military communication among enemy units, which became one of the key success factors.

The offensive continued in the central Pacific, where joint infantry and air operations were productive. Sherman (2017) notes the high professionalism and dedication of General MacArthur, who coordinated fire on individual groups of the enemy and relied on the power of fighters. However, the enemy’s resistance was massive – the Japanese first resorted to kamikaze attacks, which proved the Japanese government’s unwillingness to surrender. Stille (2017) calls the battle in the Philippine Sea the confrontation between the power of aviation and that of people’s blind selflessness. Heinrichs and Gallicchio (2017) argue that the Japanese army suffered a crushing defeat due to less competent tactics and the superior forces of Allied airborne equipment. The Japanese defense was not ready for bombing from all sides, and the Allied forces exerted massive pressure on the enemy, supporting attacks from the sea continuously. According to Borneman (2016) and Martell (2015), the combined operations of the fleet and aviation made it possible to destroy the opponent’s forces through a competent long-range fire strategy. As a result, the Allied army managed to approach the borders of Japan and continue its attacks through the ongoing bombing.

After approaching the borders of Japan, the Allies were ready to inflict a final strike on the enemy troops and invade the territory of the country. All air forces were involved, and the battles for individual islands were fierce and long. According to Lardas (2019), the opponents fought back hard, and there were numerous losses on both sides. However, when assessing the situation, one can note that the Allied victory was more likely since, by 1945, the Nazi armies were in decline and did not have enough strength and resources to conduct counterattacks (Cahill, 2018). At the same time, Pearson (2015) argues that the Allied command was stunned by the resistance of the Japanese and was not ready for such significant losses in the fourth war year. Involving all available combat aircraft was a logical decision because the Japanese relied on exhausting the enemy and relied on sudden attacks. Thus, when preparing for one of the final battles in Okinawa, there was no certainty that the liberation campaign would be successful (Craig, 2015). Therefore, the massive bombing was the only possible solution in the face of severe confrontation.

The battle for Okinawa was the largest and bloodiest struggle at the final stage of the Pacific War. According to Astor (2015), the Allied command still used the strategy of concentrating the maximum possible forces in a narrow area, which would crush the enemy with one massive strike. The long and powerful bombing was carried out, and all available military equipment was involved, including aircraft carriers as significant support from the sea (Cahill, 2018). As Lardas (2019) argues, Japanese troops could not provide due resistance due to the lack of weapons and superior enemy forces. However, the siege of the island was a test for the allied forces, and tactics of quick and massive attacks did not prove their effectiveness in practice. Later, it became known that the Japanese command did not plan to win this battle and hoped to exhaust the rivals, thereby forcing them to retreat (Astor, 2015). As a result, all available units of aircraft supported the Allied landing forces, which became decisive during the battle. Thus, the superior forces of the liberators and their significant airbase became the main factors of the victory in Okinawa.

One of the most controversial events in the history of the Pacific War was the use of nuclear weapons and the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. According to Sanchez and Xidias (2017), this was the first-ever involvement of military aircraft to launch a nuclear strike from the air. The outcomes of these bombings are debated today, and many researchers believe that these airstrikes were inflicted in revenge on the long siege of Japan and heavy losses from the Allies (Langley, 2017; Takenaka, 2015). These events were not a battle and were an attack on the defeated enemy. Ultimately, the Japanese command could not resist the Allies, which led to the unconditional surrender of the aggressor. As Suzuki (2018) argues, the main goal of these airstrikes was to achieve complete dominance and prevent the risks of warfare. The ambiguity of such a bombing is explained by the fact that, by the time the atomic bombs were dropped, Japan was not ready to resist, and tens of thousands of civilians were victims (Takenaka, 2015). Therefore, airstrikes on Hiroshima and Nagasaki are the subject of many historical disputes.

One of the possible interpretations of involving aviation for nuclear strikes is the desire to prove world domination. From a social perspective, there was no need to use air power to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki. However, as Langley (2017) notes, when considering this event from a strategic position, the destruction of large Japanese cities helped the Allied army prevent the Nazi command from trying to continue the fighting. The country’s remoteness from the continent and its insular position in the Pacific Ocean allowed avoiding the defeat of neighboring territories, and these bombings became an additional factor restraining hostilities in Europe. Sanchez and Xidias (2017) cite the concept of “war without mercy” and note that the position of the Allies regarding the destruction of the two Japanese cities was obvious and predictable (p. 13). Therefore, the key aspect that influenced the use of aviation forces to deliver a massive nuclear strike was the losses of Allied forces over the four years of the Pacific War.

The result of the Pacific War is the complete surrender of Japan as one of the main aggressor countries. The use of military aircraft by the Allies had a significant effect on the outcomes of the hostilities and became the factor conducive to victory. According to Russell (2019), the mid-20th-century weapons capabilities were not as advanced and diverse as they are today, but air power reflected its significance totally. The outcome of the war is logical since the Allied forces were superior to those of the Japanese, and, despite the confrontation, the liberation troops managed to recapture the occupied territories and stop the aggression. As Goodman and Moos (2019) state, the war for dominance in the Pacific Ocean became decisive for Japan and the United States, but as a result, many countries were involved in this conflict. Aviation proved its relevance as an important military weapon and was one of the most important resources that ensured the victory of the Allies.

When summarising the aforementioned facts, one can argue that military aviation had a strong influence on the outcomes of the Pacific War and was one of the key forces in the battles for individual islands. The use of atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki by aircraft proves the destructive power that air attacks can carry. The turning points of the war and the advancement of the Allies to Japan were largely due to the use of aviation since the strategies of massive strikes and attacks from different directions were promoted. Airpower became a significant aspect of many military operations, including battles in the Coral Sea, the Solomon Islands, and other hot spots. The Allies won the battle of Okinawa that brought numerous casualties on both sides due to the involvement of massive airstrikes that supported infantry attacks. The assessment of military operations in the Pacific Ocean in 1941-1945 implies analyzing the successful operations of the air forces under the leadership of dedicated commanders and discussing the effects of strategically designed attacking solutions.

References

Astor, G. (2015). Operation Iceberg: The invasion and conquest of Okinawa in World War II. New York, NY: Penguin.

Borneman, W. R. (2016). MacArthur at War: World War II in the Pacific. London, UK: Hachette UK.

Cahill, W. (2018). Far East Air Forces RCM operations in the final push on Japan. AirPower History, 65(1), 37-47.

Craig, W. (2015). The fall of Japan: The final weeks of World War II in the Pacific. New York, NY: Open Road Media.

Douglas, S. (2016). Wings of war: Great combat tales of allied and axis pilots during world. AirPower History, 47.

Goodman, G. K., & Moos, F. (2019). The United States and Japan in the western Pacific: Micronesia and Papua New Guinea. New York, NY: Routledge.

Heinrichs, W., & Gallicchio, M. (2017). Implacable Foes: War in the Pacific, 1944-1945. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Hodge, C. C. (2015). The key to Midway: the Coral Sea and a culture of learning. Naval War College Review, 68(1), 119-127.

6 Langley, A. (2017). Hiroshima and Nagasaki. North Mankato, MN: Capstone.

Lardas, M. (2018). Rabaul 1943-44: Reducing Japan’s great island fortress. New York, NY: Bloomsbury Publishing.

Lardas, M. (2019). Japan 1944-45: LeMay’s B-29 Strategic Bombing Campaign. New York, NY: Osprey Publishing.

Logel, J. S. (2014). Turning the tide: The battles of Coral Sea and Midway. Naval War College Review, 67(1), 15.

Martell, R. E. (2015). Showdown in the Pacific War: Nimitz and Yamamoto. Bloomington, IN: Xlibris Corporation.

Newell, R. (2015). The battle for Vella Lavella: The allied recapture of Solomon Islands territory, August 15-September 9, 1943. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.

Nishino, R. (2017). Pacific islanders experience the Pacific War: Informants as historians and storytellers. Asia-Pacific Journal – Japan Focus, 15(20), 1-13.

Pearson, M. N. M. (2015). Engineer aviation units in the southwest Pacific theatre during WWII. New York, NY: Pickle Partners Publishing.

Russell, D. L. (2019). David McCampbell: Top ace of US naval aviation in World War II. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.

6 Sanchez, V., & Xidias, J. (2017). War without Mercy: Race and power in the Pacific War. London, UK: Macat Library.

Sherman, A. F. C. (2017). Combat Command: The American aircraft carriers in the Pacific War. New York, NY: Pickle Partners Publishing.

Stern, R. C. (2019). Scratch one flat-top: The first carrier air campaign and the battle of the Coral Sea. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.

Stille, M. (2017). The Philippine Sea 1944: The last great carrier battle. New York, NY: Bloomsbury Publishing.

6 Suzuki, T. (2018). Emperor Hirohito and the Pacific War. Pacific Affairs, 91(2), 395-397.

6 Takenaka, A. (2015). Collecting for peace: Memories and objects of the Asia-Pacific War. Verge: Studies in Global Asias, 1(2), 136-157.

Yenne, B. (2019). MacArthur’s air force: American airpower over the Pacific and the Far East, 1941-51. New York, NY: Osprey Publishing.

Introduction

All over the world children are being used in combat war; children are exceptionally susceptible to military recruitment and also manipulation to violence since they are naive and impressionable. The children are either enticed or forced to join the armed groups. Despite how the children are recruited into the armed force, child soldiers are victims, and their taking part in conflicts brings serious implications to their physical as well as emotional welfare. Child soldiers are in a lot of cases abused and many of them witness the killing, sexual abuse, and death. Many of these children participate in the killings and many do suffer severe long-lasting psychological consequences.

Military activities

Throughout history, children have been used a lot in military activities, the activities of children in the military involve participating in warfare directly, taking support duties and roles like spying, or porter, or being used in war propaganda and at times as human shields. These practices are unethical and go against many cultural moral values. Way back in the 1970s the world has been trying to enact several international conventions to prevent children from taking part in armed conflicts. However, this practice has continued even though it is unethical. (Millard, 2001)

The ethical issue of child soldier

The issue of child soldiers raises the ethical concern about using child soldiers and how they should be ethically treated. Ethical values are main beliefs for instance duty, respect, and integrity that inspire the actions and attitudes of a person. Some values are unethical, ethical values do relay what is considered right and what is seen as wrong. Thus, ethical values do take priority above none ethical values. Child soldier ethics, therefore, deals with the code of conduct of armed groups be it the state military or other paramilitary groups that are involved in child soldiers. (Millard, 2001)

The recent past has witnessed an increase of conflicts in the world; due to this, the ethical issue of child soldiers has become an important issue today. Many of the general ethical issues that govern combat prohibit the recruitment of children less than 15 years into armed combat. However, by 2003 over 500 000 children currently are involved in armed conflicts; this is according to the United Nations statistics. (Millard, 2001) This, therefore, makes the issue of ethical to be more crucial.

Child soldier

There is no ethical reason why armed groups should use children in their wars. Unfortunately, fighting gangs have come up with sophisticated and brutal techniques to separate children from their families and communities. The groups normally terrorize children into obeying their orders. The child soldier comes to recognize that being obedient is the only way to survive. In many cases, this child is forced to kill other children or even family members. The children are forced to realize that there is no going back home. This is unethical behavior that should not be done to the children. These child soldiers undergo a lot of trauma, at the same time the communities that these child soldiers have been forced to assault also undergo trauma too.

Dealing with armed child soldiers

The ethical and moral dilemma that surrounds child soldiers has been scarcely been discussed. The question that arises is should professional soldiers deal with armed children soldiers just like any other enemy and go for victory when they are confronted with them? For example, in 2002 British peacekeepers in Sierra Leone were confronted with such a dilemma, when then a squad commander was not willing to fire at the group of children soldiers when they surrounded them. The children militias called “West side boys” were armed with AK -47s. The British peacekeepers were taken hostage, and when two weeks later they were rescued around 150 “West side boys” were killed in the rescue operation. (Brett and Margaret, 1998).

Thus, the ethical and moral dilemma that professional soldiers face is as tricky as they encounter. Military troops currently face real and dangerous threats from an enemy from whom they basically would wish not to harm. What is worse is that fighting children is even worse than fighting in normal welfare as it leaves severe psychological after-war effects, which include depression, stress, and post trauma disorder. (Brett and Margaret, 1998).

Child soldier ethical behavior

On the other hand, how do you deal with the ethical issue of child soldiers when you are confronted by child soldiers who kill in cold blood or brutally torture their victims? Are these child soldiers being used or they are responsible agents and carrying out rational choices? Do they have an ethical obligation to make the right choice? These questions elicit different answers. Thus, the ethics of child soldiers deal with the exceptional moral demands of the child soldier. Cohn and Guy (1994) observers that, if a child voluntarily gets recruited in the military, then the child must follow the code of military ethics. However, while the military does produce people with excellent virtues and characters; the child soldier lacks the professional training the military officers get. (Cohn and Guy, 1994).

Ethical laws protecting children

Millard (2001), states that there are many laws, international conventions, and regulations that eliminate the use of child soldiers, in 2002 another new protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict, was enforced, this convention prevents the signatories of the convection from recruiting children to the. The signatories thus have a moral and ethical obligation to ensure that children are not recruited in their armies. In another development, the International Criminal Court rules recruitment and or use of children below 15 years in warfare a criminal offense that is punished by the law.

Intergenerational impact

With an estimated number of 300,000 children being involved in armed conflicts in different parts of the world, it will harm future generations. Child soldiers have many times been depicted as “future barbarians” and their integration into normal social life is always portrayed as hopeless. However, many studies show that children and youths who have taken part in armed conflicts can be integrated with the community. Observations also reveal that in those communities in which children have taken part in armed conflicts, the children end up having troubled adulthood. Estimates also show that more than 2, 000,000 children were killed in war zones in the last decade. And more than 6, 000, 000 children have suffered serious injuries. From the data it is obvious that in those areas where there are conflicts and children are involved for example, in Colombia, Afghanistan, and Sri-lanka; there will be a great intergeneration impact on the future and present children. The impact leaves the children suffering trauma in their childhood as well as in their adulthood.

Conclusion

A child soldier is unethical and should be stopped; the international community should come up with more effective convections and rules that protect the child. Children participating in warfare undergo a lot of suffering both mentally, physically, emotionally, and socially. The life of such children is badly affected and as adults, it becomes hard for them to live a normal life. The children suffer long-lasting traumas and fail to recover. As we observe the number of conflicts in the world increase, the world is faced with the challenge of protecting child rights in this complex situation.

References

Brett, R and Margaret M (1998): Children: The invisible soldiers, Radda Barnen (Save the Children).

Cohn, I and Guy S. G (1994): Child Soldiers: The Role of Children in Armed Conflict, Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Goodwin-Gil, S and Ilene, C (1994): Child Soldiers; a Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute; Geneva, Oxford University Press.

Millard, A S., (2001): Children in Armed Conflicts: Transcending Legal Responses, Security Dialogue, vol.32.

Abstract

The belief that humanitarian norms apply to prisoners of war and others detained during armed conflicts has eventually, achieved near-universal acceptance. Most famously realized in the various Geneva Conventions negotiated in the wake of the two world wars, these norms confer upon detainees both substantive rights and the right to a judicial determination of their proper status, thereby providing an unsurprising level of protection to those who are among the most vulnerable of the victims of war. Knoll, et al (1970).

Under the Geneva Conventions position of individual prisoners determines what rights they are entitled to. The rights of POWs vary considerably from those of so-called unlawful or no privileged combatants. Nevertheless, all detainees may be put on trial for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and criminal acts unrelated to the armed conflict. Michael J. Matheson, (2004).Similarly, all persons in detention, must be treated compassionately, in a humane manner regardless of their status. “An important measure to ensure humane treatment, provided under the Geneva Conventions, is to permit visits by the International Committee of the Red Cross and for the detaining government to follow their recommendations”. Aspen Institute (1989).

According to Goldstone, Richard (1997) pp15-24 the, “Third Geneva Convention specifies the rights and privileges of POWs while the unlawful combatants are protected under the Fourth Geneva convention, customary international law and, where applicable, Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions.” The US administration is not a party to Protocol I, the U.S. administration recognizes its provisions as part of fundamental international law; particularly relevant is article 75 on fundamental guarantees, that outlines the basic normalcy of humane treatment and due process of law required of all persons affected by the conflict, despite of their status.

“However the United States of America has come under heavy condemnation for her treatment of captured fighters of war. The government has placed the POW under brutal conditions and consequently labeled these captives as detainees in bid to execute criminality against these war prisoners” Goldstone, Richard (1997)

The rights and protections granted to POWs

Humane Treatment

POWs must be humanely cared for at all times. They must be sheltered against acts of violence or threats, pressure and against insults or public inquisitiveness. Aspen Institute (1989). They should be kept in under the same conditions as those of the forces of the detaining Power in the same areas. In particular, “the premises provided for the use of prisoners of war…shall be entirely protected from dampness and adequately heated and lighted.” (Third Geneva, Arts. 13, 25, 34). “Nonprivileged combatants are entitled to humane treatment as well. While the prisoners can be denied certain privileges that would compromise security, such restrictions should be completely essential, and should not lead to cruel or humiliating treatment” Levie, Howard S. (2006)

Interrogation

The detaining power has a right to interrogate POWs and they are only required to make available their family name, first names, grades, date of birth, and their army, regimental, personal or serial number during questioning. Aspen Institute (1989). POWs are not required to provide additional information.

No physical or mental torture, nor any other form of coercion, may be inflicted on prisoners of war to secure from them information of any kind whatever. Prisoners of war who refuse to answer may not be threatened, insulted, or exposed to any unpleasant or disadvantageous treatment of any kind. (Third Geneva, Art. 17).

However the nonprivileged or unlawful combatants are not entitled to these protections under interrogation as POWs; but, like all the other detainees, they are protected from torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment as stipulated in international human rights law and customary international law. Levie, Howard S. (2006). Article 2 of the Convention against Torture, which the U.S. has approved, states: “No exceptional circumstance whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture.” Violation of this article is a criminal offense of widespread jurisdiction.

Prosecution

POWs cannot be tried or punished simply for their participation in the armed conflict; they may be prosecuted for war crimes and crimes against humanity and for common crimes under the laws of the detaining power or international law. Levie, Howard S. (2006) POWs are entitled to substantial legal protections during the trial: they have the right to be tried before the same courts and facing the same procedures that the detaining power’s military personnel would face, offering “the essential guarantees of independence and impartiality.” Michael J. Matheson, (2004). They are entitled to experienced counsel to represent them at the trial, and must be informed of the charges against them. POWs are also entitled to have an appeal of their conviction and sentence.

POW status provides security only for the act of taking up arms against opposing military forces, and if that is all a POW has done, then repatriation at the end of the conflict would be required. But as Article 82 of Third Geneva explains, POW status does not protect detainees from criminal offenses that are applicable to the detaining powers’ soldiers as well. Levie, Howard S. (2006).

That is, if appropriate evidence can be collected, the United States would be perfectly entitled to charge the Guantanamo detainees with war crimes, crimes against humanity, or other violations of U.S. criminal law, whether or not they have POW status. As Article 115 of the Third Geneva Convention explains, POWs detained in connection with criminal prosecutions are entitled to be repatriated only “if the Detaining Power [that is, the United States] consents.” Levie, Howard S. (2006)

Nonprivileged or unlawful combatants may be charged with criminal offenses arising out of their participation in the armed conflict because they are not entitled to the immunity that is often called the “combatant’s privilege.” Michael J. Matheson, (2004) pp36.Like POWs, they can also be charged with committing war crimes, crimes against humanity, and common crimes or other serious offenses. While nonprivileged combatants are not entitled to the extensive trial rights of POWs under the Third Geneva Convention, they are entitled to a just and normal trial and the trial protections provided by the Fourth Geneva Convention.

It is a fundamental provision of the Geneva Conventions that all detainees are entitled to “all the judicial guarantees recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples.” (Third Geneva, Art. 14). Nonprivileged combatants are entitled to trial before a properly constituted, non-political military court, to be informed of the charges against them, to present their defense and call witnesses, to be assisted by qualified counsel of their own choice, to have an interpreter, and to mount an appeal against the conviction and sentence. As an exceptional measure, trials may be held in camera if the security of the state so requires.

No country as ever given express rights to habeas corpus to POWs since the beginning of the Geneva Conventions. Levie, Howard S. (2006)pp66. Moreover, such action is not guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. The Supreme Court ruled in 2004 that, at most, some detainees were covered by a statutory privilege to habeas corpus. The Court concluded, in other words, that Congress had inherently bestowed habeas corpus rights to certain individuals, but the Military Commissions Act of 2006 repealed that privilege and, so far, Congress has not acted to reinstate it.

Writs of habeas corpus

The right of writs of habeas corpus is granted in Article I, Section 9, clause 2 of the Constitution, which states, “The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it”. Aspen Institute (1989). The writ requires that a prisoner be brought before the court of law to determine whether or not he had been lawfully imprisoned and if not he or she should be released from prison. A habeas corpus petition is a petition filed with a court by a person who challenges his detention or imprisonment or the detention of some one else and it has to prove that the court made a legal or factual error in ordering detention or imprisonment. The right is granted constitutionally to a person to present evidence before a court that he or she has been wrongly imprisoned.

In the early days of the U.S. Civil War President Abraham Lincoln suspended writs of habeas corpus. After Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) signed Executive Order 9066, authorizing the transfer of all Japanese Americans to chosen sites around the United States. On Oct. 17, 2006, President Bush signed a law suspending the right of habeas corpus to persons determined by the United States to be an “enemy combatant” in the Global War on Terror. Levie, Howard S. (2006) pp22 Both presidents based their action on the dangers of war, and both presidents faced sharp criticism for carrying out what many believed to be an attack on the Constitution.

President Bush’s action drew severe criticism, mainly for the law’s failure to specifically designate who in the United States will determine who is and who is not an “enemy combatant.” Levie, Howard S. (2006) pp27

Suspension during the Civil War and Reconstruction

In a reaction to riots, local militia actions and the threat that the state of Maryland would break away from the Union and leave the nation exposed to a hostile territory Abraham Lincoln suspended the habeas corpus on April 27, 1861.These actions of the president were also was inspired by requests made by the military to set up military courts to rein in Peace Democrats, and everyone else in the Union who supported the Confederate States of America. But although this decision was challenged and overturned by the US circuit court in Maryland, the president ignored the order. Levie, Howard S. (2006)pp74.

Also, inorder to spur industrial growth and preserve order brought about by recession in the South, Jefferson Davis also suspended habeas corpus and imposed martial law in the Confederacy. In the early 1870s, President Ulysses S. Grant suspended habeas corpus in nine counties in South Carolina, as part of federal civil rights action against the Ku Klux Klan under the 1870 Force Act. Daniels, Roger. (2004).pp56-64

Japanese treatment during World War II

The Japanese Americans were mercilessly treated during the world war II, an experience that left the American human rights record in question. On December 7, 1941, after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, the then President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) signed Executive Order 9066, sanctioning the transfer of all Japanese Americans to chosen sites around the United States. This executive order increased the anti- Japanese sentiments that had been growing in the US and led to internment of Japanese Americans many of who were US citizens. Daniels, Roger. (2004)pp14

After they were gathered in the camps, all the internees had their citizenship rights revoked and were treated as enemy aliens, supplied with poor living conditions and minimal wages in direct contravention of the Third Geneva convention that they be treated humanly. Levie, Howard S. (1993) This led to demonstrations in the Manzanar relocation centre in December 1942 and in October 1942 when the internees were banished to the Tule Lake Relocation Center in north California.

As a result of this , Jackman (1957)observed that “Major disturbances started being witnessed due to poor organization in Manzanar.On the other hand the unkindness of the authorities at Tule Lake caused the Japanese Americans to become hostile, thus promoting maturation of insurgencies in its internees. As a matter of fact it was the government by their mistreatment of the internees that led to the Japanese Americans to hold demonstrations.”

Again in February 1942 the government called for the immediate evacuation of the Japanese Americans, without giving any sufficient explanations. Even the Nisei, the American citizens of Japanese descent otherwise known as the second generation of Japanese immigrants, were forced to desert their homes.

The American government used cruel methods when handling the Japanese Americans shortly after the command for their mass departure was issued. Daniels, Roger.(2004) observed that“ Many internees, especially the Issei, the first generation of Japanese immigrants, reported that the administration had caused them physical and psychological damages beginning directly after they were arrested on December 7, 1941”.Internees also stated that at one camp, physicians administered unwanted medications and questionable injections.Jackman, Norman R. (1957)

To the outside world the, authorities seemed were seen to be treating the internees with utmost respect since they were allowed to communicate their views through the free press at Manzanar but on the other hand the government was “again confining the internees without appropriate explanation by obstructing their right for freedom of press.” Feeley, Francis McCollum. (1999) “Resistance by the ‘submissive’ Japanese was depicted as sporadic and uncharacteristic.” Jackman, Norman R. (1957)

Unlike the evacuees, the administration supported the need for the relocation of all Japanese Americans, including the Nisei, despite the fact that “no Nisei in Hawaii were ever convicted of any crime of spying or espionage.” Kashima, (2003). Kurihara, a veteran as well as an American citizen, was exasperated by the government’s lack of respect for Japanese Americans, especially for those who had given up their lives for the United States. The unexpectedness of the mass departure was surprising to the Japanese Americans and caused most of them to view the American authorities in a plainly different light since the American government was treating those who had risked their lives for the United States as enemy aliens. The harsh living conditions that they were subjected led many to desire for life in Japan. Jackman (1957).

An additional source of tension resulted from the administration’s infringement on the personal privacy of the Japanese Americans. Even though the internees had never been proven as treacherous, white Americans were unwavering in believing that it was necessary to separate the Japanese Americans from the greater population of the United States and assign them no emancipations. Feeley, Francis McCollum. (1999) pp34-35.

Defining the Japanese Americans as a collectively unassimilable group, this constricted perspective of thinking was built on racist values. Jackman, Norman R. (1957) Discontent was stirring throughout the camps. Avoiding the consciousness of its unlawful activities, the American government did not want to acknowledge that they were mistreating the internees. Prompting exasperation in an even more excessive way, the registration method and the loyalty questionnaire typified how the administration misused their authority and demanded unreasonable ultimatums of the internees.

The inhumane treatment of the camps had caused the general self-esteem of the Japanese to depreciate, sparkling uncertainty when the evacuees decided if they would offer themselves to the American military. A prime example of the misadministration in the camps took place in Manzanar in late 1942 when the center supervisor progressively removed the sugar that was allocated for the internees with babies from the camp.

According to Jackman, Norman R. (1957),“Although the Japanese tradition does not encourage controversy and opposition, these Japanese internees were moved to partake in some form of protest in order to defend their individual rights. After one year of predominantly non-physical arguments, aggressive violence erupted between the American governmental forces and the Japanese people restrained in concentration camps in late 1942.” The mounting tension between the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) who supported the administration and a group of Issei and Kibei ultimately broke out into the Manzanar Riot of December 1942. Although chosen as model Japanese Americans, the JACL members did not effectively articulate the internees’ concerns in the camps.

Forming a united front, the internees hoped to convey how they were all opposed to the absurd conditions of the camp. Putting the internees, who were dedicated enough to demand respect, in more restrictive settings gave those evacuees additional motivation to pressure the administration. In late October, Tule Lake residents grew infuriated when they learned that the authorities were not following camp regulations and updating the center equipment when necessary. Jackman (1957)

Instead of mounting them on the designated farm truck, the Tule Lake Administrator sold the new tires, and consequently the old tires caused a truck accident where twenty internees were injured and one Japanese man died. When the administration did not recognize a public funeral for the dead man, there was not a calm and passive face among the Japanese internees. Furious at the entire situation, 14,000 of the Japanese internees at Tule Lake went on strike and refused to harvest their assigned crops. Jackman, Norman R. (1957)

An even greater uprising occurred after the Tule Lake internees witnessed two semi-truckloads of food being taken out of camp by the Caucasians. In order to prevent the theft of more food, the Japanese internees thought that they should guard the warehouse. The administration was continually growing more fearful of the strength of the Japanese authority figures were able to recognize one of the instances where camp administration officials were unjustly treating the Japanese Americans.

Placed in concentration camps where their individual rights were not considered, the outspoken and honorable internees had no choice but to rebel against the administration. Facing miserable living conditions and regarded as inferior creatures, these Japanese Americans felt responsible to defend their rights as human beings devoted to the United States. The administrative force, composed of Caucasians who were always yearning dominance over the evacuees, posed a challenging threat to the Japanese Americans.

“The Japanese Americans faced a cultural control that prescribed to them a decidedly inferior status.” Feeley, Francis McCollum. (1999) By October 1943, the internees attempted to overturn the authorities at Tule Lake segregation center, but many of the commanding officials had been swept up in the popular belief that all people of Japanese ethnicity deserved to be detained.

Bush’s Suspension of Habeas Corpus

On Oct. 17, 2006, President Bush signed a law suspending the right of habeas corpus to persons determined by the United States to be an enemy combatant in the Global War on Terror. His actions were heavily censured, because the law did not specifically state who in the United States will decide who is an enemy combatant. Levie, Howard S. (2006) The President suspended writs of habeas corpus through his support and signing into law of the Military Commissions Act of 2006.

The bill grants the President of the United States almost unlimited authority in establishing and conducting military commissions to try persons held by the U.S., and considered to be unlawful enemy combatants in the Global War on Terrorism. In addition, the Act suspends the right of internees. Finally American unlawful enemy combatants to present, or to have presented in their behalf, writs of habeas corpus.

Distinctively, the Act states, “No court, justice, or judge shall have jurisdiction to hear or consider an application for a writ of habeas corpus filed by or on behalf of an alien detained by the United States who has been determined by the United States to have been properly detained as an enemy combatant or is awaiting such determination.” Levie, Howard S. (2006)

Importantly, the Military Commissions Act does not affect the of writs for habeas corpus already filed in federal civilian courts on behalf of persons held by the U.S.as unlawful enemy combatants. The Act only suspends the accused person’s right to present writs of habeas corpus until after their trial before the military commission has been completed. The Detention, Treatment, and Trial of Certain Non-Citizens in the War Against Terrorism November 13, 2001 Presidential Military Order purported to give the President of the United States the power to detain non-citizens suspected of connection to terrorists or terrorism as an enemy combatant.

As a result of this, such person could be held for an indefinite period, without charges being preferred against him or her, without a court hearing, and without prerogative of a legal advisor a situation challenged by several legal and constitutional scholars as being in direct contravention with the provisions of habeas corpus, and the United States Bill of Rights. As a result it was no surprise that the court re-affirmed the right of US citizen to habeas corpus even when declared an enemy combatant in ‘‘Hamdi v. Rumsfeld”, 542 U.S. 507 (2004).

In ‘‘Hamdan v. Rumsfeld”, 548 U.S.(2006), Salim Ahmed Hamdan petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus, challenging that the Guantanamo military commission set up by the George W. Bush administration to try Guantanamo Bay detainment camp “violate both the UCMJ and the four Geneva Conventions. In a 5-3 ruling the Court rejected Congress’s attempts to strip the court of jurisdiction over habeas corpus appeals by detainees at Guantánamo Bay. Though Congress had previously passed the Detainee Treatment Act of 2006 which stated in Section 1005(e), “Procedures for Status Review of Detaineed Outside the United States.”: The Bush administration is the world’s leading violator of the provisions of the Geneva Conventions regarding the treatment of prisoners of war.

It is illegally holding hundreds of Taliban soldiers captured in Afghanistan at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Michael J. Matheson, (2004) When the first of the detainees arrived in Guantanamo in January 2002, the Pentagon released photographs and footage of them in orange jumpsuits, kneeling before US soldiers, shackled, handcuffed and wearing blacked-out goggles over their eyes and masks covering the mouth and nose. The images shocked world opinion, but Bush, Rumsfeld and Powell refused to recognize the detainees as POWs.

On the same day that Bush and Rumsfeld attacked Iraq’s filming of American POWs, about 30 more detainees were flown from Afghanistan to Cuba. According to Amnesty International, “This brought to about 660 the number of foreign nationals held in the base. They come from more than 40 countries. Most were taken into custody during the international armed conflict in Afghanistan. Some have been held in Guantánamo, without charge or trial, and without access to lawyers, relatives or the courts, for more than a year. Their treatment has flouted international standards.” Levie, Howard S. (2006).

As required under Article 5 of the Third Geneva Convention, the US government from the beginning refused to have the status of the Taliban captives determined by a capable tribunal. Levie, Howard S. (2006) It unilaterally declared them to be terrorists and unlawful combatants, terms that are not used in the Conventions even though they were fighting with the armed forces of the Taliban government, then the UN-recognized administration of Afghanistan, which was a party to the Conventions. Cohen, Stanley (1996).

In its definition of POWs, Article 4 of the Conventions specifically includes “members of militias or volunteer corps forming part of a country’s armed forces, as well as organized resistance movements and inhabitants who, of your own accord, take up arms to oppose invading forces, without having had time to form themselves into regular armed units. Feeley, Francis McCollum. (1999). “Despite condemnation by UN Human Rights Commissioner the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the most reliable body on the stipulations of the Geneva Conventions the US government maintained its stance” Levie, Howard S. (2006).

The US continues to hold the Guantanamo detainees in poor conditions, most of them incarcerated in tiny cells for 24 hours a day and reportedly allowed to exercise in manacles for only 30 minutes a week pointing to clear violation of the 1949 Geneva Conventions. Michael J. Matheson, (2004). Article 13 states: “Prisoners of war must at all times be humanely treated.” Article 25 states: “Prisoners of war shall be quartered under conditions as favorable as those for the forces of the Detaining Power who are billeted in the same area.” Article 21 prohibits close confinement, except to safeguard detainees’ health. Levie, Howard S. (2006)

The detainees at Guantanamo are confined in a legal black hole, unable to challenge the lawfulness of their imprisonment and with no suggestion as to how long they will be in incarceration. Michael J. Matheson, (2004) pp45. At the government’s application, US federal courts have refused to accept jurisdiction over the prisoners, blocking their habeas corpus motions to be brought before a court. As a result, there have been numerous suicide attempts.Levie, Howard S. (2006).

The Bush administration has also refused an Amnesty International call for an inquiry into claims of torture and ill-treatment by US personnel against alleged Taliban and Al Qaeda detainees held at the US Air Base in Bagram, Afghanistan. Autopsies revealed that two prisoners who died in the Bagram detention facility in December 2002 had sustained blunt force injuries. It has also been alleged that detainees have been subjected to stress and duress techniques, including hooding, prolonged standing in uncomfortable positions, sleep deprivation and 24-hour illumination. Michael J. Matheson, (2004).

In late November and early December 2001, US and British Special Forces in Afghanistan joined with troops loyal to Northern Alliance warlord General Rashid Dostum to massacre 400 to 800 non-Afghan Taliban supporters who had surrendered the previous day in Kunduz. The slaughter inside the Qala-i-Janghi fortress, which involved American air strikes, was justified on the grounds that the captives had staged an uprising, but all the evidence pointed to a one-sided killing spree. “In any case”, observed Levie, Howard S. (2006) “the Geneva Conventions prohibit reprisals and executions and ban the use of weapons against POWs, especially those attempting to escape except in extreme circumstances”.

Except as provided in section 1005 of the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005, “no court, justice, or judge shall have jurisdiction to hear or consider an application for a writ of habeas corpus filed by or on behalf of an alien detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The jurisdiction of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on any claims with respect to an alien under this paragraph shall be limited to the consideration of whether the status determination… was consistent with the standards and procedures specified by the Secretary of Defense for Combatant Status Review Tribunals, and to the extent the Constitution and laws of the United States are applicable, whether the use of such standards and procedures to make the determination is consistent with the Constitution and laws of the United States.” Michael J. Matheson, (2004)

Under the MCA, the law confines habeas appeals for only those aliens detained as enemy combatants, or awaiting such determination. Left unchanged is the provision that, after such determination is made, it is subject to appeal in U.S. Court, including a review of whether the evidence warrants the determination. Knoll, et al (1970). If the status is upheld, then their imprisonment is deemed lawful; if not, then the government can change the prisoner’s status to something else, at which point the habeas restrictions no longer apply. Michael J. Matheson, (2004)

Conclusion

The desire for compassionate standards that are relevant to prisoners of war and others arrested during armed conflicts has attained near-universal acceptance. Particularly realized in the various Geneva Conventions, these norms confer upon detainees comprehensive rights and the right to legal recourse so that their proper status is established, and by extension, providing protection to those who are among the most vulnerable of the victims of war. The United States has ratified the Geneva Conventions, expressly incorporated them into its written military regulations, and adhered to them in prior conflicts. Over the past half-century, moreover, the United States has played a prominent role in demanding that detainees be treated by foreign governments in accordance with the Geneva Conventions.

Recently, however, the United States’ treatment of detainees captured during the war on terrorism and its reluctance to reconcile its actions with the norms of the Geneva Conventions or submit them to the scrutiny of the courts, has resulted in widespread doubt about the United States’ actual commitment to those norms. Genuine, demonstrated commitment to the principles of the Geneva Conventions is vital to the United States’ moral authority to demand compliance by other nations with those agreements.

Contrary to the D.C. Circuit’s believe that the courts should not be involved in this process, development of this body of law requires rather than excludes a legalinvolvement. Even where executive discretion is broadest, the fact of review is a formidable protection. And there is law to apply here: impartial tribunals are particularly well-suited to determine whether the detentions at issue comply with the procedural and substantive guarantees that find expression in the Geneva Conventions, United States military regulations, and the United States Constitution.

The Geneva Conventions and military regulations expressly consider the involvement of knowledgeable tribunals in making these determinations. Independent judicial review would remove the doubts of executive involvement or overreach and provide the international community with assurances that the United States’ detentions are not subjective or in violation of the Geneva Conventions, in cases where the detainees’ claims lack merit. Moreover, judicial assessment will enable the courts of the United States to add to the long-term improvement and advancement of international humanitarian law by giving relevance to the governing rules. This, in turn, will lead to a established and secure body of rules that can be inevitably applied by, and demanded of, all nations in all future clashes.

References

Aspen Institute (1989). State Crimes, Punishment or Pardon. Papers and Reports of the Conference, 1988, Wye Center, Maryland.

Cohen, Stanley (1996). Government responses to human rights reports: claims, denials, and counterclaims. Human Rights Quarterly, 18: 517-543.

Daniels, Roger. (2004) Prisoners Without Trial: Japanese Americans in World War II. New York: Hill and Wang.

Feeley, Francis McCollum. (1999) America’s Concentration Camps During World War II: Social Science and the Japanese American Internment. New Orleans: University Press of the South, Inc.

Goldstone, Richard (1997). Assessing the Work of the United Nations War Crimes Tribunal. Stanford Journal on Internatinal Law, 33, 1.

Jackman, Norman R. (1957) “Collective Protest in Relocation Centers.” The American Journal of Sociology Vol. 63, No. 3: 264-272.

Kashima, (2003). Judgment without Trial: Japanese American Imprisonment during World War II. Seattle & London: University of Washington Press.

Knoll, Erwin and Judith Nies McFadden (1970). War Crimes and the American Conscience. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, NY.

Levie, Howard S. (2006) Terrorism in War: The Law of War Crimes. Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.: Oceana Publication.

Michael J. Matheson, (2004) American University Journal of International Law and Policy.Vol. 2. No. 2, pp. 425-26.

Third Geneva convention, Arts. 13, 14, 25, 34.

Cybercrime is one of the fastest rising crimes in the world today. It has been described as an illegal activity that is perpetrated through the Internet. However, there is no universally accepted definition of cybercrime. This paper is a literature review that will analyze several concepts revolving around cyber-attacks.

Numerous definitions of the term cyber-attack have been suggested over the years. However, there appear to be some conflicts in determining one universally accepted definition of the term. The confusion is attributed to different definitions of the term from government sources.

As Hathaway, Crootof, Levitz, Nix, Nowlan, Perdue, and Spiegel (2012) explain, the first military definition of the term cyber-attack was published by the United States Cyber Command. The term was defined as an act of hostility that is launched using computer systems or systems that are computer operated with the intention of interfering or damaging cyber functions and systems.

A cyber-attack is aimed at interfering with data in a computer system or a network of computers. The attack may employ the use of electronic transmitters or other devices that are considered to be peripheral to the computer. An act of cyber crime may be executed from a given location and its effects be felt widely, far away from the point of execution (Hathaway, Crootof, Levitz, Nix, Nowlan, Perdue, and Spiegel, 2012).

Hathaway, Crootof, Levitz, Nix, Nowlan, Perdue, and Spiegel (2012) add that existing definitions of cyber-attacks and related terms vary widely. Some of the terms are also defined in ways that benefit the governments involved. The term has been used interchangeably with cyber-warfare and cyber-bullying.

Hathaway, Crootof, Levitz, Nix, Nowlan, Perdue, and Spiegel (2012) also reveal that there is a lack of accountability on the governments’ side in dealing with cyber-attacks.

For example, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, an intergovernmental mutual security organization founded in 2001 by China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan adopted cyber-attack strategies that pose a threat to political stability. This was a setback in the fight against cybercrime.

Efforts to define cyber-attacks at an international level are significant, even though the results have been less promising. Gervais (2012) argues that workable definitions of cyber-attacks have been offered by other sources; for instance, the United States Department of Defense.

The author also adds that the involvement of other agencies in dealing with cyber-attacks will achieve what the governments have failed to do, more so to define cyber-attacks.

Gervais (2012) reveals that the only international agreement that gives a definition of cyber-attacks is the Council of Europe’s Convention on Cybercrime (CECC). CECC is a multilateral treaty that increases cooperation among signatories to combat cybercrime, such as fraud, child pornography, and copyright infringement.

There is also a gap in literature in defining cyber-attacks. Hathaway, Crootof, Levitz, Nix, Nowlan, Perdue, and Spiegel (2012) explain that there should be a distinction between cybercrime, cyber-attacks, and cyber warfare. The authors also suggest that in order to understand one type of crime, those involved with tackling cybercrime have to understand the other types of crime.

Table 1 shows a summary of the definitions and distinctions in cyber-attacks, cybercrime, and cyber warfare.

Table 1: Essential characteristics of different cyber-actions.

There are mixed reactions in regard to who is responsible for dealing with cyber-attacks. Scully and Cooper (2013) explain that industry leaders should not rely on governments to work towards improving cyber security. Blame has been put on organizations that do not try to secure their own cyber presence. Company CEOs have, therefore, been advised to speed up companies’ adoption rate of cyber security (Scully & Cooper, 2013).

There are several laws that can be applied when a cyber-attack constitutes an armed attack. Hathaway, Crootof, Levitz, Nix, Nowlan, Perdue, and Spiegel (2012) explain that applying the laws of war to a cyber-attack can be challenging. It is worth noting that the laws of warfare have not been revised since the World War II.

Using the laws to solve a cyber-attack becomes less effective or useless altogether. Additionally, the authors say that it is only possible to use the existing laws to solve cyber-attacks if the cyber-attacks involve property destruction. As summarized in table 1, however, the best term to use is cyber warfare and not cyber-attacks whenever there is destruction of property.

In the United States of America, the law allows organizations to get the Comprehensive National Cyber-Security Initiative. This is defined as a twelve component program that protects computer networks from cyber-attacks.

The program protects the networks by improving the IT processes, reducing the connections between the federal agencies’ computers and other computers, and detecting intrusion (Owens, Dam & Herbert, 2009).

Owens, Dam and Herbert (2009) explain that the United Nations Charter states that a cyber-attack should be judged purely by the effect it has, rather than its modality. This means that even though the weapons that were used to do the attack should be considered by the law, the effects of the cyber-attack are more important.

On the other hand, Gervais (2012) argues that the laws of war in cyberspace can be controlled. The author adds that there are two things to consider when talking about the laws of war in cyberspace. The first thing that has to be considered is whether the crime resulted in the use of force. Gervais (2012) explains that if the crime resulted in the use of force, then the law is termed as jus ad bellum.

The second thing that has to be considered is whether the attack falls within the limits of acceptable warfare behavior. In the first scenario, if the attack conforms to jus ad bellum, then the law that governs criminal procedures will be used. However, if the attack is justifiable according to the conducts of warfare, then no repercussions of the law will be felt by any party.

Gervais (2012) also adds that international treaties can determine how cyber-attacks are categorized in the law. The international laws will apply if the cyber-attack is an international case or it threatens international relations. For example, if the cyber-attack is done by an individual in China and targets the United States government, then the international laws governing the two countries will have to be used to solve the crime.

Schmitt (2012) argues that cyber warfare has proven difficult to manage using normal law. He attributes this to the use of kinetic weapons, as opposed to normal weapons. Schmitt (2012) adds that the United States laws have to be revised to cater for cyber-attacks, crime, and warfare.

It is acknowledged that cyber-attacks and crimes can threaten the core fiber of the society without causing any physical damage to the society. This makes it difficult to manage the crime using the existing laws.

According to Schmitt (2012), the trans-border cyber-attacks also make it difficult for anyone to manage cyber-attacks. Different laws will apply to different regions, thus nothing can be done about cybercrime because there is no clear international law that can be used to control cyber-attacks.

Alperen (2011) also agrees that the law is insufficient in dealing with cyber-attacks. He explains that normal laws can be used when the attack is within the country.

Conversely, no laws can be applied when the cyber-attack is done from one country and targets another. International laws define crime as anything that causes physical damage and uses physical weapons. Contrary to this, cybercrime can cause a lot of physical damage, but it does not use physical weapons.

In conclusion, there are various definitions of the term cyber-attack. However, all the definitions that are in use lack one thing or another. The law does not specifically stipulate the punishment for committing a crime of cyber-attack. In fact, the laws do not stipulate what can be considered as cybercrime. However, many scholars seem to agree that if the attack conforms to jus ad bellum, then it should be punished using normal state laws.

However, if the attack is justified according to the laws of warfare, then the party involved should not be punished. This is one of the challenges that make it hard to fight cybercrime.

Moreover, most of the current strategies of fighting cybercrime are outdated and irrelevant, thus calling for the adoption of strategies that match the current level of technological development. Intergovernmental cooperation and the international law are pertinent in cracking down and punishing criminals involved in cybercrime because the effects of cybercrime may involve individuals in different countries.

Reference list

Alperen, M. 2011. Foundations of homeland security: Law and policy. New York, NY: Wiley.

Gervais, M. 2012. Cyber-attacks and the laws of war. Berkley Journal of International Law, 30(2): 525-541.

Hathaway, O. A., Crootof, R., Levitz, P., Nix, H., Nowlan, A., Perdue, W., & Spiegel, J. 2012. The law of cyber-attack. California Law Review, 100: 817-839.

Owens, W. A., Dam, K. W., & Lin, H. S. 2009. Technology, policy, law, and ethics regarding U.S. acquisition and use of cyber-attack capabilities. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

Schmitt, M. 2012. Classification of cyber conflict. Journal of Conflict and Security Law, 17(2): 245-260.

Scully, P. C., & Cooper, T. G. 2013. Current trends in coverage for cyber liability risks. Web.

Introduction

The aviation industry as a strategically important sector in almost any country performs many different functions that are not limited to civilian passenger transportation. For decades, aviation has been a significant resource in the military sphere, and today, the use of high-performance fighters, unmanned aerial vehicles, and other flying equipment proves progress in this area. However, at the beginning of the 20th century, this industry was not developed enough to speak of it as a key component of tactical military tasks. After World War I, General Guilio Douhet who predicted the colossal success of heavy aircraft assumed that all military interventions would be based on aerial bombardments with irreparable losses and damage to an enemy. The aim of this work is to evaluate this theory by using examples of the development of airpower over the past decades. Such topics will be reviewed as changes in the aircraft industry of the 20th century, new opportunities obtained by expanding capabilities, as well as examples of military operations proving the relevance of Douhet’s theory. The analysis of significant innovations may help prove the proposed concept and determine its importance in tactical solutions.

The growth of opportunities in the aviation industry was largely achieved due to the development of the technical base. In particular, Waters and Cadou (2015) note that the introduction of the fuel cells of solid oxide nature made it possible to expand the opportunities of aircraft of the past and expand their capabilities significantly. This step is logical because improving the speed and, consequently, the duration of stay in the air played a crucial role in promoting this industry and developing the equipment of both civilian and military aircraft. Unlike modern flying models, which can be driven by the energy of electricity, century-old designers could only use combustible fuel (Williamson, 2014). Nevertheless, this did not become an obstacle to the development of engineering, and the success demonstrated by military pilots in various hot spots proves the relevance of aircraft designers’ activities. Taylor (2018) provides examples of operations in Korea, Vietnam, Japan, and other regions where conflicts occurred in the 20th century and argues that massive air attacks were the main methods of battle. Therefore, the outcomes achieved over several decades were obvious and significant.

Main body

The principles of financing the aviation industry have also undergone changes. Over the 20th century, the costs of military aircraft steadily increased, which was caused by a large number of armed conflicts and the need to expand weapons (Kirkpatrick, 2019). The threat posed by aggressor countries prompted many states to enlarge stocks of military aircraft, thereby protecting national interests and confronting external threats. Improving the technological base was natural because, in conditions of the mass modernization of the military-industrial complex, innovations were inevitable. At the same time, as Bongers and Torres (2014) argue, despite a unified strategy for replenishing heavy weapons, the principles of warfare were different. The authors compare the approaches of the USA and the USSR in improving their aviation capabilities and note that piloting skills, financial capabilities, and, particularly, design solutions differed significantly (Bongers & Torres, 2014). Both powers were on the leader list, but despite allied actions during World War II, the Cold War in the second half of the 20th century led to an arms race (Bongers & Torres, 2014). Therefore, the achievements of airpower are largely due to the motives of individual states.

For the most part of the 20th century, new capabilities appeared in aircraft, which has increased airpower. For instance, Deptula (2014) gives an example of fighters and calls them strikers with a sensory function, which was previously impossible, but today, they are a common model. In addition to technical specifications, related areas have also developed significantly. In particular, the aviation communications and logistics industries have advanced sufficiently to create a stable tracking and control system for all flying objects (Burmaoglu & Sarıtas, 2017). As an example of unmanned technologies, de Sousa et al. (2015) mention numerous military operations where remotely controlled vehicles were key participants. Such a development of military aviation became possible due to the efforts and funds invested in this sphere. Cost-effective fuel-saving innovative systems and the transition to electric engines were a breakthrough and allowed reducing the costs of the military-industrial complex by equipping engine mechanisms (Madonna, Giangrande & Galea, 2018). As a result, according to Trebat and De Medeiros (2014), investments in both civilian and military aviation helped these sectors to develop and enhance air power significantly.

As a theory that proves the rapid development of combat aviation and predicts the expansion of military capabilities with its help, the idea of ​​General Guilio Douhet may be analyzed. Agoratus (2015) describes this hypothesis and interprets it as an unspoken tactical principle that implies massive bombardments from the air as the key and only destructive force. The author notes that this strategy manifested itself during World War II when American troops inflicted crushing blows on enemies in different regions – Germany, Japan, and other hotbeds of conflict (Agoratus, 2015). This period marked the beginning of the new era of military aviation that increased its power and became one of the most dangerous instruments of war. As an example of a successful operation, Hooker (2016) mentions “Desert Storm” conducted in 1991 and demonstrating the overwhelming threat of massive bombardments. Iraqi air defense systems were powerless due to the speed and onset of the attack. This example makes it clear that utilizing aircraft may be decisive in the course of a military conflict, and due to the development of this sector over the past decades, air threats have become extremely dangerous.

The United States was not the only power whose military leadership recognized the importance of air power timely. Chi Man (2019) describes the conflicts in the east and gives an example of the battle of 1937 when Japanese aircraft operated successfully and destroyed significant forces of Chinese troops through massive bombardment. In general, Douhet’s theory became widespread, and its provisions entered the world practice of military tactics. For instance, preliminary artillery shelling from an attacking side is a tactical principle based on the power of airstrikes and their destructive force destabilizing enemies’ positions. Kiras (2015) remarks that Douhet’s theory was hypothetical and intuitive since General expressed his opinion on the development of aviation after World War I. Nevertheless, this assumption turned out to be true, and numerous military operations of the 20th century prove this fact. Many researchers of that era put forward theories concerning the future of aviation, but Douhet’s idea of ​​bombing according to a preliminary strategy has become one of the justified tactical steps (Marsh, Kenny & Joslyn, 2015). Thus, the influence of airpower and its role in the conduct of hostilities were correctly predicted.

Douhet’s theory proved its relevance in many battles and was valid. Leece (2017) mentions the Battle of Britain that took place in 1940 and notes that aerial bombardment was a key attacking force. The fierce battle in Pearl Harbor, the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and other examples of large-scale hostilities involving military aircraft confirm that air fire was the dominant attacking power (Chourchoulis, 2016). Enemies’ failures to resist such a threat have become a decisive factor in many armed conflicts. Although the failures of some operations were witnessed, for instance, “Enduring Freedom” in Afghanistan when the aerial bombing was not effective enough to eliminate opponents, isolated examples cannot indicate the irrelevance of Douhet’s theory (Visbal, 2015). Despite the fact that General assessed the prospects for the development of aviation from the standpoint of neutrality supported by Italy before the outbreak of World War I, his assumptions were correct (Strachan, 2019). The legacy of military aviation of the 20th century has become decisive in the development of modern aircraft manufacturing (Col, 2015). Therefore, Douhet’s ideas were valid and justified by historic examples proving that military success depended largely on aviation.

Conclusion

Douhet’s theory related to the significant development of airpower in the 20th century has been justified, and numerous examples of battles involving military aircraft prove this assumption and explain its unconditional relevance. Valuable engineering solutions and innovations made it possible to modernize insufficiently fast and maneuverable models, which became the key to strengthening the combat power of many countries and enhancing their military-industrial complex. As a result of this reinforcement, decisions on investment in this industry were justified by the need for protection. Due to the innovations that were promoted in the 20th century, new aircraft appeared, and today, such high-tech transport as unmanned flying vehicles, electric-powered fast aircraft, and other models are common. The assessment of military conflicts involving combat airpower proves that Douhet’s theory was justified, and during World War II, the tactics of the strategic bombing were widespread. On the examples of the development of major countries’ military power, approaches to the strategic strengthening of the flying base are demonstrated. In general, the progress was the result of competent work in the aircraft manufacturing field and the relevance of designers’ innovative ideas.

References

Agoratus, S. (2018). American airpower strategy in World War II: Bombs, cities, civilians, and oil. Air Power History, 65(1), 49-49.

Bongers, A., & Torres, J. L. (2014). Measuring technological trends: A comparison between US and USSR/Russian jet fighter aircraft. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 87, 125-134.

Burmaoglu, S., & Sarıtas, O. (2017). Changing characteristics of warfare and the future of Military R&D. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 116, 151-161.

Chi Man, K. (2019). Debating ‘Douhetism:’ Competing airpower theories in republican China, 1928-1945. War in History, 1-25.

Chourchoulis, D. (2016). Peter Gray, air warfare: History, theory and practice. Journal of Contemporary History, 51(4), 904-906.

Col, G. E. L. (2015). Airpower reborn: The strategic concepts of John Warden and John Boyd. Air Power History, 62(4), 61-62.

Deptula, D. A. (2014). A new era for command and control of aerospace operations. Air & Space Power Journal, 5-16.

de Sousa, J. B., McGuillivary, P., Vicente, J., Bento, M. N., Morgado, J. A., Matos, M. M.,… de Oliveira, P. M. (2015). Unmanned aircraft systems for maritime operations. Handbook of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, 2787-2811.

Hooker, R. D. (2016). Airpower in American wars. Survival, 58(6), 121-134.

Kiras, J. D. (2015). A theory of special operations: “These ideas are dangerous.” Special Operations Journal, 1(2), 75-88.

Kirkpatrick, D. (2019). Some challenges for the UK’s combat air strategy: Learning lessons to enhance future practice. The RUSI Journal, 164(4), 36-44.

Leece, D. R. (2017). Sun Tzu to Giáp: Masters of strategy and their contemporary relevance. United Service, 68(2), 21-26.

Madonna, V., Giangrande, P., & Galea, M. (2018). Electrical power generation in aircraft: Review, challenges, and opportunities. IEEE Transactions on Transportation Electrification, 4(3), 646-659.

Marsh, C., Kenny, M., & Joslyn, N. (2015). So what? The value of scientific inquiry and theory building in special operations research. Special Operations Journal, 1(2), 89-104.

Strachan, H. (2019). Strategy in theory; strategy in practice. Journal of Strategic Studies, 42(2), 171-190.

Taylor, L. C. (2018). The grand designers: The evolution of the airplane in the 20th century. Air Power History, 65(3), 43-44.

Trebat, N. M., & De Medeiros, C. A. (2014). Military modernization in Chinese technical progress and industrial innovation. Review of Political Economy, 26(2), 303-324.

Visbal, M. J. D. (2015). New wars, new challenges: Rethinking strategic advantages of air supremacy in modern warfare. Revista de Derecho, (44), 226-246.

Waters, D. F., & Cadou, C. P. (2015). Engine-integrated solid oxide fuel cells for efficient electrical power generation on aircraft. Journal of Power Sources, 284, 588-605.

Williamson, M. (2014). Air power the rise of electric aircraft. Engineering & Technology, 9(10), 77-79.

People may understand Canada’s changing political climate and societal norms via the contemporary arts of war. Along with the way that artwork and items are presented in connection to one another in museums and galleries, what is included in officially recognized war design programs is significant. In conjunction with changes in society in general, representations of women and Indigenous peoples have undergone substantial changes throughout time, as have the methods in which artists have approached issues like propaganda, religion, violence, identity, and protest. The importance of martial arts to the formation of Canadian national identity is an integral part of Canadian culture, but this phenomenon is not studied by the modern community.

Power dynamics that support the maintenance of societal authority systems are ingrained in the creation of aesthetic imagery. Many of the nations that took part in the international conflicts that have taken place since 1900 have created and funded official war art programs (Scott). To varying degrees, these initiatives serve as places of recollection for incidents the authorities want to be remembered while also supporting and documenting authorized government military activity. Combined, official military art projects provide an essential but insufficient permanent representation of the nation’s military successes. In addition to being heavily masculinized at the time, the world war in the first half of the 20th century also saw severe Indigenous oppression and the emergence of French Canadian nationalism.

Official war painters from Canada got to pay as well as help with supplies, lodging, transportation, and performance space during the majority of the 20th century. The topics, sizes, and media of each artwork were chosen by the authorities, who also vetted their work. The resultant paintings were instantly included in the official war art collection, and several artists built their careers as a consequence of their involvement. Regardless of collection regulations, all official war art projects have in some way limited artistic output because the creators could not function without the support of military institutions, either physical or emotional. When surrounded by loyal military troops, even those who are anti-war are reluctant to produce anti-war or protesting art.

Exhibitions with a military theme often honour victories during hostilities and serve as a reminder to the people of the immense efforts made by their families, communities, and nation to the war or peacekeeper endeavour at home or abroad. Exhibitions of military art may promote patriotic feelings while also serving as instructional, memorial, and propagandist tools through emotionally powerful graphic representation. They may even generate revenue by selling prints, billboards, and brochures. Governmental organizations, such as the Canadian War Museum, the National Gallery of Canada, Library and Archives Canada, and the Department of National Defence, are often responsible for facilitating them.

The bulk of these shows was planned by the institutional arrangements in Ottawa using government collections and programming. Consequently, official art predominates in Canadians’ understanding of war art in the fields of painting, printing, sculpture, and filmmaking. At the same time, other artistic responses to the dispute have been exhibited in public spaces like the National Gallery of Canada. They are more often affiliated with contemporary art trends than with war art. Given that official military art has never had a long-term permanent collection place, it may surprise some people that it nevertheless has a solid reputation and level of acceptance.

A commemoration of the First World War was desired on every potential battlefield, as well as in Canada’s communities, schools, parks, universities, and department stores, to name a few of the more notable examples. The dead never returned, and that was the only explanation. Before the First World War ended, the British government decided that troops should be interred where they died rather than being returned (Whittley). As a consequence, Canadians’ recollections of the twentieth-century conflict are heavily influenced by the famous but non-Canadian constructed Commonwealth War Graves cemetery located in fighting locations all over the world.

There was no feeling of Canadian identity in the country’s combat art prior to the First World War. Official war art aims to promote the image of a nation that has participated effectively in international military activities and wars. Unofficial martial arts, on the other hand, can serve a variety of purposes, including protest and advocacy. Both have an equal impact on views both now and in the future. Many members of the general public have viewed the creation and presentation of war art throughout history as acts of wars of aggression. On the other hand, people are proud of the accomplishments it stands for as a nation.

Women are marginally represented in the Canadian War Museum art collection, which is most of the government’s provenance. The art of battle has been slanted away from female topics since fighting is usually seen as a patriarchal activity. Any military museum visitors visit or Remembrance Day service individuals will make it clear that war is about soldiers engaged in fighting. Additionally, encouraging recruitment, honouring veterans, and celebrating past successes are all predominantly male actions in the context of waging war. The male subject, who typically had more accessible access to this material, is therefore given preference in conflict’s contemporary arts, as is the real actor.

Works Cited

Scott, Tanya. “Bringing the “Great War” to Life: Supply Line Discovery Box.” Detours: Social Science Education Research Journal 2.1 (2021): 97-98.

Whittley, Trevor. “A Tragic WW1 Romance Remembered.” North Irish Roots 29.2 (2018): 41-46.

Introduction

History shows that war comes with all kinds of violence to the people involved in it. This violence can be in the form of killings by guns, bombs and the many hardships that come with it. Wars do not involve only men but also women. Many of these women who have gone through war experiences have had to live with fears of such violence.

To many of them, the greatest fear that has stayed with them is the fear of being harassed sexually where by those who resist risk being killed. In this paper we will discuss the fact that the greatest fear of women during times of war is not the killings and the hardships, but men.

Women and War

Women are the most affected victims during times of war. And if you thought that women soldiers are safe, then you are wrong. Women soldiers who have participated in wars have recounted horrible stories of being harassed by their men counterparts.

Many of the US female veterans of the war in Iraq when interviewed confirmed this allegation that rape by men soldiers was their greatest danger to the extent that they were routinely warned by their superiors about going out without an escort. Some soldiers resorted to carrying knives with them for protection.

A case to prove this point was given by Spc. Mickiela aged 21; when asked why a knife was her accompaniment, she said “The knife wasn’t for the Iraqis; it was for the guys on my own side.” (Benedict 1). Although there are no comprehensive statistics on these issues, the US DoD acknowledged that this is a serious problem. Measures have been put in place, but as the number of female soldiers increases, the problems also seems to increase.

Women are victimized

A report by Col. Janis Karpinski showed that three female soldiers died of dehydration because they refused to drinks liquids during the day. All this was because they feared that could be raped if they visited the latrines in the dark. In the US, female soldiers are prohibited by the pentagon from serving in ground combat, but this is not the case for those who have took part in wars in the Middle East. Women soldiers are exposed to equal risks just like men, and as if this is not enough, the men treat them as inferior and sex toys.

Many female soldiers have been sexually assaulted but did not report it for fear of being victimized or being punished if the assailant was their superior. In most cases, the superiors to whom the female soldiers report to are men. That is why most of the cases go unpunished. It is an issue of a woman’s word against the man’s, and the man’s word always prevails. It is all about covering up your comrade. Many atrocities are committed and go unpunished under the disguise of comradeship.

Men will protect their fellow men, the same is expected from women, but female soldiers are very few meaning that they depend on men for protection, men who are not trustworthy. A man will not protect a woman who refuses his advances, these forces female soldiers to cope with these assaults or risk being left alone (Benedict 1).

Men are a Danger

The story of the little girl who died by Sushma Joshi also confirms that men are the biggest danger to women during wars. It brings out the rage felt by a female Maoist guerrilla fighter, Ambika, who was on a mission to kill Major Krishna Basnet, a soldier in the Royal Nepal Army. Major Basnet was on a mission to smoke out the guerrillas from a village where Ambika and her group stayed. These soldiers are known for raping women they come across.

This is confirmed when the author says that “the three women were almost certain to face rape“(Joshi 1), this is in relation to the incidence where Ambika and her comrades had been captured and taken to the army barracks. That particular night, the major vents his disappointment of not finding the guerrillas on a helpless woman and her 7 year old daughter. He brutally murders the woman and the girl by shooting them. Ambika is confronted with the urge to shoot the Major and risk her life and those of her comrades.

She decides on the latter, this just shows how women fear and hate men to the extent that they would be willing to kill them if the situation allows. Just as in the case of the US female soldiers, war has changed Ambika into a different person, a person who will do anything to counter the cruelty of men (Joshi 1).

In the argument “the main purpose and outcome of war is injuring”, the author asserts that this fact has been ignored or omitted by many institutions especially the military. This omission has not helped but made it worse. The problem is not that it is hard to identify the issues on the ground, the path to disclosure and justice has always been met with resistance.

The author has cited the case of rape and sexual assault in times of war. Finding a solution has remained a problem not just on the side of the assailant, but also the victim. For instance, the way women choose to report or keep quite about the trauma of sexual harassments challenges the understanding of silence and agency (Tabea 129).

More Witnesses

There are two stories which bring show women suffering clearly. In one we see a girl on a mission to revenge after witnessing an army general assault her mother. In the other story we see a woman who has after losing a child in a bombing, slapping a soldier in the face and crying out “That is it. You give us babies only to kill them later” (Linhard 1). This two incidences just show how ignoring or omitting the injustices that happen to the society can transform people.

The mother’ rape, the search for revenge, the killing of the child, and the slapping of the soldier by the woman are all acts of physical violence. They have occurred in the public domain, but the worst violence is the one that occurs in the public domain. The manifestations of domestic violence are often tolerated and even encouraged. The victims of this violence are mostly women and children and the culprits, who are mostly men, usually go unpunished” (Linhard 1).

Conclusion

All the authors have shown that physical violence usually goes hand in hand with other forms of less explicit violence. Soldiers raping their female counterparts in the barracks, women being assaulted by men at home, are all forms of violence that usually go without punishment because victims do not report the cases for fear of losing their jobs, and being forced out of homes. Therefore, to a woman, man will always be the enemy that she is forced to deal with in her daily life regardless of whether it is at home or at work.

Works Cited

Benedict, Helen. The Private War of Women Soldiers. Salon.com. Middle East, 2007. Web.

Joshi, Sushma. The Little Girl Who Died. World Literature Today, 2010. Web.

Linhard, Alexa. A perpetual trace of violence: gendered narratives of revolution and war. Discourse [Detroit, MI], 2003. Web.

Tabea, Linhard. Fearless women in the Mexican Revolution and the Spanish Civil War. Missouri: University of Missouri Press, 2005. Print.

War historians, political analysts and researchers have demonstrated evidence that war is as old as mankind. In prehistoric era, civilizations used to engage in armed conflict fueled by factors such as population pressure, consolidation of geographical areas and conflict over resources (McPherson 12).

Presently, countries still engage in war for many other reasons that were absent during the prehistoric era, such as fighting terrorism, driving dictatorial political regimes out of power, and stopping other countries from developing weapons of mass destruction.

Debate has been wide-ranging about the necessity of war in the 21^st century, with anti-war advocates arguing that war is not a necessary ingredient to the progression of man (Landry para. 3), while war supporters counteract by arguing that war is necessary for the advancement and stability of the world. It is against this background that this paper aims to outline arguments demonstrating that war is still necessary in the 21^st century despite its social, economic and political costs.

It is indeed true that acts of war unnecessarily claim many innocent lives, particularly civilians who are caught in the crossfire and who have absolutely nothing to do with the war. The U.S. invasion of Iraq to dislodge Saddam Hussein bears witness to this fact as thousands of innocent Iraqis lost their lives while many more were maimed.

The economic cost of the Second Gulf War is hard to quantify for both the invaders and the aggressed nation. But from the utilitarian perspective, the Iraq war is justified since it achieved a greater good to a large number of Iraqis, not mentioning that the world in general and the Middle East in particular became more stable after Saddam was dethroned and a new political order instituted (McPherson 15).

Today, many more Iraqis enjoy a whole new range of freedoms and rights that they could not dare to ask under the dictatorial leadership of Saddam Hussein. Consequently, this war was justified by the virtue of the fact that most Iraqis can now enjoy their democratic rights and human rights, and people are no longer coerced to live in fear.

Some political leaders, especially in Africa, have been known to refuse to hand over power even after serving as presidents for decades. Recently, the world learned with shock how Tunisians have been subjected to the same president, Ben Ali, for over two-and-half decades.

Presently, NATO forces are engaged in removing yet another political demagogue in the name of Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, who has been in power for over four decades but has flatly refused to cede power. Using the jus ad bellum (just cause) perspective (Suzuki 3), it can be argued that NATO forces are justified to participate in such a war that will benefit Libyans, economically, socially, and politically, once the heavy lid of the their dictatorial president is lifted.

However, necessary caution need to be taken when progressing such an offensive to ensure that Gaddafi soldiers and his military installations, not civilians, become the target of the NATO bombings. This will make the military campaign and any other military campaigns undertaken to dislodge static and unyielding political regimes more justified, permissible and valid.

The U.S. is currently engaged in undertaking preemptive attacks against terrorist targets in Afghanistan, Iraq and in other parts of the world. Critics, human rights activists and other lobby groups have criticized these preemptive attacks, arguing that they only contribute to loss of lives and destruction of infrastructure. It would be irresponsible to support this line of argument while turning a blind eye on what befell innocent Americans in the infamous 9/11 terrorist attacks on U.S. soil.

According to the consequentialism view, the U.S., and indeed any other country, is justified to wage war on terrorists using preemptive attacks to destabilize the terror networks since such a policy will occasion the best overall balance of good over bad (Suzuki 9). Although it’s sad that a few innocent lives are lost during such preemptive attacks, the desire to prevent hundreds or even thousands of innocent lives that these terrorists are waiting with baited breadth to decimate renders justification to the war.

Lastly, some countries are known to attack their neighbors with a view to forcefully extract precious natural resources from them. It can be remembered that Iraq under Saddam Hussein attacked Kuwait for her gas, while Uganda, located in Africa, sent her troops to the Democratic Republic of Congo to forcefully extract gold and diamonds.

In such invasions, the aggressed states are justified to go to war against the aggressors to protect their resources. Borrowing from the traditional view, “…war is permissible if and only if it is fought as being necessary to defend the attacked party from aggression” (Suzuki 5). It is therefore irresponsible for an aggressed state to sit back and watch her civilians being massacred by an aggressor who is only interested in extracting or ‘stealing’ resources for enrichment.

To conclude, this paper has comprehensively engaged the utilitarian, just cause, consequentialist, and traditional perspectives to justify that war is still necessary in modern times. It is a well known fact that war initiates violence, which is generally impermissible in its nature and scope (Suzuki 4).

The reasons given for going to war, however, weigh heavily on the pursuit of a peaceful and stable world. Leaders and countries therefore need to be particularly careful not to tamper with factors, conditions or situations that may render justification to war.

Works Cited

Landry, P. “On War.” 2011. Web.

McPherson, J.M. This Mighty Scourge: Perspectives on the Civil War. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2007.

Suzuki, M. War and Massacre. 2006.