In April of 2022, a video on Twitter appeared to show a Ukrainian drone attacking Russian soldiers, and then “finishing off” the wounded when a CASEVAC vehicle arrived to evacuate the wounded.
At the time, the video turned my stomach because I never would have done such a thing in Iraq - but I had made the fatal mistake of confusing the LOAC or Law of Armed Conflict with the SROE - Standing Rules of Engagement.
Here’s the difference:
The Geneva Conventions sets the minimum standards of human behavior during wartime.
The LOAC or Law of Armed Conflict overlays the rules with proportionality and military necessity.
The SROE - or Standard Rules of Engagement laid out my the military can be even more restrictive.
Soldiers who served in the Global War on Terror may be at an inherent disadvantage in future conflicts despite their combat experience because they may make COIN decisions in a LSCO war, which could get them killed.
