Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1982

Publication Information

39 Wash. & Lee L. Rev. 333 (1982)

Abstract

Common moral judgments on many types of clandestine warfare, referred to by some as terrorism, seem to be more nuanced and less severe than our current legal judgments. This paper begins by offering a detailed typology of clandestine operations and measures to combat them, a few general reflections on the laws of war, and a critique of those laws as they now stand. It then proposes a substantial revision of the laws which govern clandestine warfare based on four basic principles of the laws and the morality of just war: the independence of jus in bello from the jus ad bellum; the condemnation of perfidy; the immunity of noncombatants from attack; and quarter for lawful combatants when captured. With these four basic principles in mind, the paper concludes with a model International Draft Convention on Clandestine Warfare and a model Draft Federal Act Concerning Armed Organizations.

Comments

This article was originally published as Robert E. Rodes, On Clandestine Warfare, 39 Wash. & Lee L. Rev. 333 (1982), and has been reproduced with permission.

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