ABSTRACT

Various attempts have been recorded in history to restrain the use of weapons of war. In the United States and elsewhere, the US arsenal of anti personnel weapons became a target for opponents of US intervention in Viet Nam. In addition to the discussions on specific weapons, the 1899 Conference drew up a number of Conventions regulating the conduct of warfare. The extensive use of chemical weapons overshadowed these other developments in the post-war disarmament and legal discussions, which led, inter alia, to the Geneva Protocol of 1925. There is no doubt that these developments seriously undermined the specific provisions of one of the cornerstones of international humanitarian law, the St Petersburg Declaration. The US Rules themselves state their own justification, not in terms of obligations derived from international law, but in terms of winning the war. Although the general applicability of the US Rules of Engagement is limited in various respects, they are well worth study by international lawyers.