ABSTRACT
Military action must be proportionate, in relation to its objectives. All this holds firm regardless of the causes and aims of war, its justness or urgency. Revisionism raises several welcome and illuminating points of criticism that are both important and virtually unarguable, particularly as wars become even more deadly and devastating. War is a terrible business, which can only be justified as defense against aggression, either of compatriots or else on behalf of a third party in need of rescue. Revisionists view such myths of civilized warfare and male comradery with disdain, even repugnance, and they certainly have a point. In theory, revisionists unanimously reject the independence-symmetry thesis, which attributes equal rights and liabilities to all soldiers, based on the mutual threat they post to one another regardless of cause. Contemporary battlegrounds, often orchestrated by terrorists, are particularly hazardous to civilians.
