Unjustifiably attacking another country for trumped-up reasons that have nothing to do with self-defence. Examples include: Vietnam, Iraq, Grenada, etc, etc. Covert destabilisation when the existing regime is not to your liking probably counts too. Chile, Guatemala and other Central American states, Iran, etc, etc.
I can use some examples from the Japanese invasion of Malyasia and Singapore. The singling out of Chinese people, pouring gasoline on them, and setting them on fire. The act of killing each and every family from between a prison camp and the place where an escaped prisoner was found. The lining up of British prisoners of war, machine-gunning them, running them over with army trucks, and then bayonetting the very few that still showed signs of life. Using slave labor to build railroads, air fields, and military facilities, and feeding only one pint of rice per day, and no medical treatment or medicine of any kind, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. We can also add vivisection, the use of prisoners and civilians to test new types of bullets, grenades, chemical and biological weapons, or disassembling live human being limb by limb, and seeing how long they could survive, or removing organs to see the effect of the loss on the "patient." The photographing of civilians being killed, to test photographic equipment capable of stopping action the moment a bullet blows apart a head, or when a sword passes through a woman's neck.
Had Japan been more humane in it's wartime acts, and in the occupation that followed, things might have turned out much differently. When land was first conquered, those who lived there supported the occupiers, but horrible abuses, widespread murder, slave labor, Japan's sponsoring of drug addiction of the population, etc, quickly turned the occupied against the occupiers, hastening their eventual defeat.
When America conquered and occupied Japanese territory, the Japanese expected the same atrocities to be committed against them. To their surprise, the sick and wounded were treated with great care and expense, rather than murdered or ignored and allowed to die (even though many wanted to die). There was no widespread looting or destruction, except by the Japanese military, which was committed to leaving nothing and no one usable behind them, and encouraging civilians to kill and die rather than suffer at the hands of American troops.
Violence perpetrated merely for the sake of violence, ie sadism, without reasonable tactical or strategic rationale. Torture of POWs, shooting of prisoners, killing of civilians for retribution, etc.
Boer War Concentration camps, treatment of Kenyans during the Mau Mau uprising, the Bengal famine, and beheadings of Malayan civilians. People are always going on about Japan's crimes, but never mention those of the British Empire. They were the first ones to invent concentration camps, not the Nazis. Got a taste of their own medicine during the Blitz in WW2 and the IRA bombings.
Anything that goes against the Geneva Convention is a war crime.
Gosh, do you mean that waterboarding is a war crime?
I know it was in 1945 when Japanese soldiers were executed for doing it on Americans, but surely it's different when Americans do it as part of the War on Terror?
What Imperial Japan did to China (Chinese civilians) in 1937 on. The institutionalization of Korean comfort women for Japanese soldiers. Germany's Auswitch. Those are war crimes & represent the worst of humility.
Boer War Concentration camps, treatment of Kenyans during the Mau Mau uprising, the Bengal famine, and beheadings of Malayan civilians. People are always going on about Japan's crimes, but never mention those of the British Empire. They were the first ones to invent concentration camps, not the Nazis. Got a taste of their own medicine during the Blitz in WW2 and the IRA bombings.
No, that was the Americans who invented the concentration camp... to quote:
The first modern concentration camps in the United States were created in 1838. Around this time, the United States was getting bigger. However, Native Americans lived in the lands that the United States wanted to take over.
In 1830, the United States Congress and President Andrew Jackson had passed a law called the Indian Removal Act. This law said that all Native Americans had to leave the United States and move to "Indian Territory," west of the Mississippi River. However, many Cherokee people would not leave their lands. In May 1838, the United States government decided to force the Cherokee to leave the United States.
First, soldiers forced about 17,000 Cherokee people, and 2,000 of their African-American slaves, into concentration camps, where they had to live during the summer of 1838. 353 Cherokee people died in the camps from dysentery and other diseases. Finally, the Cherokee were forced to travel to the area that is now Oklahoma. (At the time, Oklahoma was not in the United States.) The government also forced other Native American tribes to leave their lands and move west.
Soon, many people from the United States started to move west. Now the United States was moving into Native American lands again. Starting around the 1860s, many Native American tribes fought back. These fights are now called the Indian Wars. The United States government reacted by forcing Native Americans to leave their lands again and move into concentration camps. The government called these camps "Indian reservations." (They were called "reservations" because some land had been put aside, or "reserved," for the Native Americans.) However, Native Americans were not allowed to leave their reservations. On some reservations, many people, especially children, died from hunger and sickness.
The US also had concentration camps during the Civil War... not just POW camps. The British camps were set up in South Africa and run between 1900 and 1902.
Between 1900 and 1902, the British Empire, led by Lord Kitchener, used concentration camps. At the time, they were fighting the Boer people in the Second Boer War in South Africa. At first, the British were not able to beat the Boers. They reacted by putting the Boer fighters' family members into concentration camps. They did this so these family members could not give food or help to the Boer fighters. The British soldiers also burned down the Boers' houses and farms, and destroyed all the crops they could find. They did this so the Boer fighters would not be able to find food or shelter anywhere.
Around 26,000 women and children died in these camps from disease and starvation.
Admittedly, yes a war crime... but to say we deserved to be bombed by the Germans is pretty low... disgusting actually... as for the IRA, we deserved terror attacks? You know nothing of the Troubles my friend.
As we are not in the Special Forces division and none of us were on secret assignments, that is a vague statement without knowing all the facts, I would disagree.
Bush, Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld instigating Gulf "war" based on complete lies.
Again, that is debatable.
How Cheney particularly is walking around free is a mystery to me:
Some say the same about many people, some may think certain individuals are war criminals, others do not, it all depends on your interpretation of who is and who is not a war criminal. Some might think Obama's botched missteps in Syria and Afghanistan make him a war criminal as it does Hillary for what happened to Gaddafi and Mubarak. That is one of the reasons why Obama always says ISIL and not ISIS (to include Syria because of his mishandling that situation).
When the highest ranking member in political office blatantly lies to take a country to war in order to support the political aims of another country. Yes, I am talking about Tony Blair and his collusion with George Bush to invade Iraq, but Harbin Unit 731 comes close too.
The definition of war crimes are relative and change from time to time, generation to generation. Usually defined by all parties other than the one that wins the war.
“The use of the atomic bomb, with its indiscriminate killing of women and children, revolts my soul. The only difference between this and the use of gas is the fear of retaliation.”
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sensei258
Unit 731, The Rape of Nanking, The Bataan Death March, do you really want me to keep going?
some07791
My Lai, Bloody Sunday..
Moonraker
Unjustifiably attacking another country for trumped-up reasons that have nothing to do with self-defence. Examples include: Vietnam, Iraq, Grenada, etc, etc. Covert destabilisation when the existing regime is not to your liking probably counts too. Chile, Guatemala and other Central American states, Iran, etc, etc.
BertieWooster
US covert and overt actions in the Middle East.
Bush, Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld instigating Gulf "war" based on complete lies.
How Cheney particularly is walking around free is a mystery to me:
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/03/cheney-admits-that-he-lied-about-911.html
SimondB
Killing unarmed civilians. Example? Choose any war you want.
BertieWooster
Vietnam
A must read is the Nick Turse book, "Kill anything that moves."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-van-buren/nick-turse-kill-anything-that-moves_b_2897858.html
lostrune2
How about surprise attacks without prior notice of intentions?
Hitler's blitzkrieg thru Poland, Pearl Harbor, 9/11, etc.
BertieWooster
lostrune2
Not 9/11, that was a conspiracy theory, wasn't it?
sangetsu03
I can use some examples from the Japanese invasion of Malyasia and Singapore. The singling out of Chinese people, pouring gasoline on them, and setting them on fire. The act of killing each and every family from between a prison camp and the place where an escaped prisoner was found. The lining up of British prisoners of war, machine-gunning them, running them over with army trucks, and then bayonetting the very few that still showed signs of life. Using slave labor to build railroads, air fields, and military facilities, and feeding only one pint of rice per day, and no medical treatment or medicine of any kind, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. We can also add vivisection, the use of prisoners and civilians to test new types of bullets, grenades, chemical and biological weapons, or disassembling live human being limb by limb, and seeing how long they could survive, or removing organs to see the effect of the loss on the "patient." The photographing of civilians being killed, to test photographic equipment capable of stopping action the moment a bullet blows apart a head, or when a sword passes through a woman's neck.
Had Japan been more humane in it's wartime acts, and in the occupation that followed, things might have turned out much differently. When land was first conquered, those who lived there supported the occupiers, but horrible abuses, widespread murder, slave labor, Japan's sponsoring of drug addiction of the population, etc, quickly turned the occupied against the occupiers, hastening their eventual defeat.
When America conquered and occupied Japanese territory, the Japanese expected the same atrocities to be committed against them. To their surprise, the sick and wounded were treated with great care and expense, rather than murdered or ignored and allowed to die (even though many wanted to die). There was no widespread looting or destruction, except by the Japanese military, which was committed to leaving nothing and no one usable behind them, and encouraging civilians to kill and die rather than suffer at the hands of American troops.
JeffLee
Violence perpetrated merely for the sake of violence, ie sadism, without reasonable tactical or strategic rationale. Torture of POWs, shooting of prisoners, killing of civilians for retribution, etc.
Thunderbird2
Anything that goes against the Geneva Convention is a war crime.
seanwd20
Boer War Concentration camps, treatment of Kenyans during the Mau Mau uprising, the Bengal famine, and beheadings of Malayan civilians. People are always going on about Japan's crimes, but never mention those of the British Empire. They were the first ones to invent concentration camps, not the Nazis. Got a taste of their own medicine during the Blitz in WW2 and the IRA bombings.
BertieWooster
Thunderbird2,
Gosh, do you mean that waterboarding is a war crime?
I know it was in 1945 when Japanese soldiers were executed for doing it on Americans, but surely it's different when Americans do it as part of the War on Terror?
At least that's what Bush, Cheney and Trump say.
coskuri
It's when some "heroic action" is done by the losing camp.
Wc626
What Imperial Japan did to China (Chinese civilians) in 1937 on. The institutionalization of Korean comfort women for Japanese soldiers. Germany's Auswitch. Those are war crimes & represent the worst of humility.
gokai_wo_maneku
There is no such thing as a "war crime". War itself is the greatest crime.
MsDelicious
Death should be quick, but I think all war is a crime. Humans need to become like Bonobos.
Ronnie Taylor
Unnecessary suffering, wounding or killing of unarmed person or persons.
Attilathehungry
White socks with sandals.
Hairy shouldered men wearing tank tops.
Tempura udon.
BertieWooster
War IS a crime.
Thunderbird2
No, that was the Americans who invented the concentration camp... to quote:
The US also had concentration camps during the Civil War... not just POW camps. The British camps were set up in South Africa and run between 1900 and 1902.
Admittedly, yes a war crime... but to say we deserved to be bombed by the Germans is pretty low... disgusting actually... as for the IRA, we deserved terror attacks? You know nothing of the Troubles my friend.
bass4funk
US covert and overt actions in the Middle East.
As we are not in the Special Forces division and none of us were on secret assignments, that is a vague statement without knowing all the facts, I would disagree.
Again, that is debatable.
Some say the same about many people, some may think certain individuals are war criminals, others do not, it all depends on your interpretation of who is and who is not a war criminal. Some might think Obama's botched missteps in Syria and Afghanistan make him a war criminal as it does Hillary for what happened to Gaddafi and Mubarak. That is one of the reasons why Obama always says ISIL and not ISIS (to include Syria because of his mishandling that situation).
Zed Phillips
When the highest ranking member in political office blatantly lies to take a country to war in order to support the political aims of another country. Yes, I am talking about Tony Blair and his collusion with George Bush to invade Iraq, but Harbin Unit 731 comes close too.
garfield1275
The definition of war crimes are relative and change from time to time, generation to generation. Usually defined by all parties other than the one that wins the war.
DieRealityCheck
“The use of the atomic bomb, with its indiscriminate killing of women and children, revolts my soul. The only difference between this and the use of gas is the fear of retaliation.”
By President Herbert Hoover