Centre for Military Ethics: Ethics Playing Cards

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Bien qu’elles soient interdites, est-il acceptable d’employer les mêmes méthodes et les mêmes armes que l’ennemi, même s’il les a utilisées en premier?

Qu’est-ce que vous en pensez? Ce serait une violation du droit international. Est-ce que le fait que l’ennemi ait utilisé ces armes légitimise leur utilisation?

The enemy may use forbidden weapons because it is unaffected by criticism, and wants to draw us into moral dilemmas. Although difficult, we must maintain the rules of war. If the enemy break the rules and we follow them, we descend to the same moral levels as those we are fighting. It is important to remember that responding to an asymmetric enemy in kind may risk turning the very people you are there to protect against you.

David Whetham, ‘Ethics, Law and Conflict’ in David Whetham (ed.), Ethics, Law and Military Operations, (Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, 2011), p118.

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