The Ancient Art of Modern Warfare

The common definition of a mercenary is a soldier paid to fight in an armed conflict for a country that is not his or her own. The terrorist organization Hizballah operates in Lebanon, fighting against Israel, with financial, material and organizational support from Iran, and frequently under the direction of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. Under the common definition, could Hizballah be considered mercenaries fighting for Iran? Royce de Melo, Doug Brooks, and I discuss this question in this episode of the Ancient Art of Modern Warfare.

 

References:

 

• Hague 1907: Convention (IV) respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land and its annex: Regulations concerning the Laws and Customs of War on Land. The Hague, 18 October 1907. (definition of lawful combatant) https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/ihl-treaties/hague-conv-iv-1907
• Article 47, Additional Protocol (I) to the Geneva Conventions, 1977 (definition of mercenary) (The United States is not a party to this Protocol) https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/ihl-treaties/api-1977?activeTab=1949GCs-APs-and-commentaries
• United Nations Mercenary Convention: International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/international-convention-against-recruitment-use-financing-and&ved=2ahUKEwi47cCQ6M-VAxV4M1kFHX_OGsAQFnoECA0QAQ&usg=AOvVaw1fCthlNI1AV0DjEGZmeTVl (As of the date of this episode, only 38 governments had ratified this treaty. Only two NATO countries are parties to the convention.)

Music:

• Liszt, F., and the USMC Band, Les Preludes. Public Domain
• Kiilstofte, P. Mercenaries, Machinamasound (Licensed)

Is war rational? The great philosopher of war, Carl von Clausewitz, was a product of three schools of education: the classical tradition of Aristotle, the enlightenment philosophers such as Kant, and the practical experience of Napoleon. Each of these three challenged and opposed the other two. His work, On War expresses this tension and opposition. In his effort to develop a comprehensive theory of war, he had to deal with the many instances where the reality of war seemed to defy any coherent framework, where the things which should happen in war are contradicted by what actually happens. (This fits with his assigning the element of probability and chance to the military leg of his famous triad.) “Consequently,” he wrote, “it would be an obvious fallacy to imagine war between civilized peoples as resulting merely from a rational act on the part of their governments…” If it did, he concluded, then in the end, war would never need to be fought. But wars are fought. Is war itself then, irrational?

 

Music:

• Traditional, The Army Strings, Garryowen (Public Domain)
• Copland, A. & United States Marine Band. (2000) Fanfare for the Common Man. unpublished, Washington, DC. [Audio] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, (Fair use for educational purposes.)

Since at least the 1940’s, policy and strategic thinking uses the so-called rational actor model in determining what competitors and partners may do, how to respond to them, and how they may react in return. Even considering variations to that model to explain less than optimal choices by these actors, there appears to be enough irrationality by state and non-state actors to call into question whether continued use of the rational actor model is itself rational.

 

Music:

• Traditional, The Army Strings, Garryowen (Public Domain)
• Copland, A. & United States Marine Band. (2000) Fanfare for the Common Man. unpublished, Washington, DC. [Audio] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, (Fair use for educational purposes.)

I haven’t posted for a few weeks mostly because the current armed conflict with Iran poses a lot of questions that I don’t have answers for. One thing I might have an answer for is the question about wars of choice. Recently, this term is used in a way that implies that this armed conflict is illegitimate or unethical. Like many terms used by any faction with intended political impact, the term is left undefined. Without defining terms there can be no logical argument. Rather, the intent is an appeal to emotion, rather than reason. In this episode of the Ancient Art of Modern Warfare, I take on the challenge of defining that term and applying it to modern conflicts.

Music:

• Traditional, The Army Strings, Garryowen (Public Domain)
• Holst, G. The Planets: Mars Bringer of War, downloaded from Internet Archive

 

Any quick net search for the term “cyber mercenary” will result in dozens, if not hundreds of entries. These concerns largely focus on the effect these persons or entities have on personal freedoms, economic activity, and the ability of hackers and States can work together to undermine human rights. What about cyber mercenaries and warfare? Can – or do – real mercenaries of the cyber domain of warfare actively participate in combat? If so, how can they disrupt armed conflict or undermine whatever humanitarian principles still exist in warfare? It took the international community years to catch up on the use of private military and security companies in armed conflict and we are still struggling with State-run quasi-mercenary organizations. We need to get ahead of cyberwarfare domain mercenaries now, while the genie is still peeking out from the bottle.

 

References:

• Convention (IV) respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land and its annex: Regulations concerning the Laws and Customs of War on Land. The Hague, 18 October 1907
• International Committee of the Red Cross (2008) The Montreux Document On pertinent international legal obligations and good practices for States related to operations of private military and security companies during armed conflict. Geneve: International Committee of the Red Cross / Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs
• Melzer, Nils, Interpretive Guidance on the Notion of Direct Participation in Hostilities under International Humanitarian Law, International Committee of the Red Cross, Geneva, 2009.

Music: Kiilstofte, P. Mercenaries, Machinamasound (Licensed)

As I post this, the cease-fires in Lebanon and Iran are still holding, and much longer than I expected. We usually think of cease fires as a good thing, enabling humanitarian activity and at least pause the death and destruction. That is not, however, the purpose behind any suspension in fighting a war. In this episode I examine the real reasons for most truces or cease fires, explore probable motivations for the current cease fires, and ask whether all cease fires are inherently good.

 

Disclaimer:  These podcasts are not monetized or subsidized in any way, nor do they represent anyone’s opinion but my own.

Reference: Clausewitz, C. On War, Book One, Chapter One

Music: Copland, A. & United States Marine Band. (2000) Fanfare for the Common Man. unpublished, Washington, DC. [Audio] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, (Fair use for educational purposes.)

Every time the United States or Israel use military force, there are immediate claims that those military forces are committing war crimes. I also note that such claims are never made about the opposing side, whether that is Hamas, Hizbollah, Houthis, Iran or any other state or non-state armed group opposing Western armed forces. It also seems that there are voices that insist than any military operation is unjust and constitutes a war crime, at last if the party involved is from the West. Aside from the bias, there is the deliberate use of the term “war crime,” intended to be inflammatory and de-legitimize the accused party, raising images of Nazi and Japanese atrocities of WW2. In this episode I describe what is a war crime under international and U.S. national law. You may be surprised at what is and what isn’t a war crime. I conclude with the claim of Pope Leo IV and the response from the White House.

As usual, the opinions in these podcasts are my own and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Department of Defense, anyone else in the U.S. Government, or any other organization I am or ever have been associated with. I also want to reiterate that I am not a law of war expert, just a retired cavalry officer for whom the laws and customs of war provided the boundaries of what was allowed and what was unacceptable.

References:

• of Defense, DoD Law of War Manual, June 2015, Updated July 2023
• The Hague Convention (IV) of the Law of War on Land (1907) available at: https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1907&context=ils

 

Music: Copland, A. & United States Marine Band. (2000) Fanfare for the Common Man. unpublished, Washington, DC. [Audio] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, (Fair use for educational purposes.)

The United States is in yet another war. The usual pundits say that we cannot win while others say we have already won. The same people seem to say nearly the same things about Russia’s war in Ukraine. I doubt that pundits in either camp can coherently describe what winning or losing a war means or looks like. So, in this episode, I will once again lean heavily on Carl von Clausewitz to describe what has always been true about winning a war and how that applies to current wars. For the pro-Sun Tzu crowd, stay with me to the end as he makes a rare appearance in my podcasts.

 

Disclaimer: The information in these podcasts is my own opinion and does not represent that of the Department of Defense or any other organization I am or have been affiliated with.

 

Music: Wagner, R. and the USMC Band, Siegfried’s Funeral (Public Domain)

 

I am not sure, but I think that I mention the Laws and Customs of War in about half of my episodes. (Clausewitz, of course features in almost EVERY episode -- except this one.) There is one part of the Law of War that is infrequently discussed. So infrequent that the term International Humanitarian Law (IHL) doesn’t even include it. The International Committee of the Red Cross even says that it is of little importance! That nearly forgotten part of the Law of War is the Law of Neutrality. I do not agree with the comment in the ICRC’s IHL database tha, “the traditional law of neutrality has lost much of its former importance.” I believe that the armed conflicts between Russia and Ukraine and those in the middle east reveal problems which result when the law of neutrality is forgotten or abused. I believe these conflicts also represent an opportunity to reassert that branch of the Law of War, but only if States and nations have the courage to do so.

As usual, the content of this podcast is entirely my own opinion, and does not represent to position of the U.S. Department of Defense or any other orgaization I am or have previously been associated with

 

References:

 

• of Defense, DoD Law of War Manual, June 2015, Updated July 2023
• ICRC, How does Law Protect in War, p.3 https://www.icrc.org/sites/default/files/document/file_list/icrc-0739-part-i.pdf

 

• International Committee of the Red Cross IHL Databases: https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/ihl-treaties/hague-conv-v-1907

 

Music: Kiilstofte, P. Freedom Fighters, Machinamasound (Licensed)

 

I believe that the Law of War remains valid in modern warfare and is essential to establishing peace after war. Despite that belief we see States such as Russia and Iran and non-state groups such as Hamas operate in a manner that looks like violating the most fundamental aspects of the law of war, including deliberate targeting of civilians, to be an objective rather than a restriction. In this episode of the Ancient Art of Modern Warfare I propose some reasons for this and insist that, in the end, it will be counterproductive to achieving success.

The material in these podcasts are my own opinion and do not represent the official opinion of the Department of Defense or any other organization I have been or I am currently associated with

References:

• “The Law of War: Not Dead Yet,” Episode 56 of the Ancient Art of Modern Warfare
• Clausewitz, C. von, Howard, M. E., Paret, P., & Clausewitz, C. (1984). On war. Princeton University Press.
• of Defense, DoD Law of War Manual, June 2015, Updated July 2023

Music

• Kiilstofte, J., The Cavalry, Machinamasound (Licensed)