Lethality in Combat, A Study of the True Nature of Battle

by Tom Lewis

“One Italian paid the price for not observing the rules of surrender. He bobbed up from one of the pits, put a rifle to his shoulder and shot Green through the chest. He dropped his rifle, put up his hands and climbed out, smiling broadly. An angry Australian emptied his Bren gun into him.”

Does this action constitute a war crime?

Lethality in Combat shines a blazing light on the three most controversial aspects of military combat: the necessity of killing; the taking, or not, of prisoners; and the targeting of civilians.

Firstly, if soldiers want to survive close-quarter combat,
they must quickly learn to become efficient killers – or
die. Some accept this reality enthusiastically; others do
so more reluctantly. War, the author argues, has its own
rules: society’s laws and values should not be applied.

Secondly, the author discusses a range of situations
where prisoners cannot be taken, which raises profound
ethical dilemmas. If prisoner-taking means compromising
your own force’s lethality, with potentially life-threatening
consequences, what should you do? If the enemy typically
kills surrendering soldiers to avoid taking prisoners, how
should your side respond? And when exactly is an enemy
no longer a combatant?

Thirdly, the author tackles what is perhaps the thorniest
and most topical of all military issues: the enmeshing
of enemy combatants and civilians. When there is no
clear division between the two – as was the case in the
Vietnam and Iraq wars, in particular – what is the right
course of action? To put it starkly, if a soldier sees a
child with a backpack bomb coming towards him, is he
entitled to apply lethal force?

This book argues that when a nation-state sends its
soldiers to fight, the state must accept the full implications
of this, uncomfortable as they may be. Drawing on seven
conflicts – the Boer War, World Wars I and II, and the wars
in Korea, Vietnam, the Falklands and Iraq – the author
considers these ethical issues. Lethality in Combat lifts
the veil on the much-misunderstood but very real and
secret world of unsanitised war.

443 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Dr Thomas Anthony "Tom" Lewis, OAM is an Australian author, military historian, editor, teacher, and former naval officer. An author since 1989, Lewis worked as a high school teacher, and served as naval officer for 20 years, seeing active service in Baghdad during the Iraq war, and working in East Timor.

In June 2003, Lewis was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for meritorious service to the Royal Australian Navy, particularly in the promotion of Australian naval history.

Dr Lewis is the author of 14 books and continues to work on a variety of military history research projects, including acting as Lead Historian for The Territory Remembers, the NT Government's commemoration of 75 years since the first air raid on the NT in 1942.

Reviews

[Tim Mercer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a critique of the international laws and conventions covering war crimes and the situations where they are applied. The book covers the various ways combatants and non combatants die in conflict and how those deaths should be treated by law.

He attempts to give the reader an understanding of how various deaths happen and when prosecutions should not be pursued. For example, taking prisoners. It is considered an unlawful act to kill an enemy soldier who is or has surrendered. However remember if the soldiers have been trained well they will be reflex killers and often shoot at movement. Also there have been countless cases where soldiers pretended to surrender and then went on to take advantage of the situation and kill their captors. Also what of the situation where if you can't keep the prisoners or let them go without abandoning the operation resulting in more casualties for your side.

I feel the author has done a good job of explaining why he believes that the Geneva Conventions are dated and need reviewing. There are many situations covered where their application in modern war will result in a miscarriage of justice. Additionally he believes the government that trained them to efficiently kill should take some responsibility for their actions in combat.

If you are looking for a realistic breakdown of what happens in combat this book is a good place to start. It should also be essential reading for any civilian who wishes to criticise soldiers actions from the armchair. The media is rarely right.

This book is well referenced throughout and well argued. 5 stars