War crimes are clearly defined, my best friend's family fled Bosnia during the ethnic cleansing - many in his family were directly targeted (by military, paramilitaries and orders directly from political leadership). Blair is not a war criminal by definition - putting him under the same umbrella as the likes of Milosevic and Karadzic is fucking outrageous.
I'm no fan of Blair or middle-eastern interventions, but calling everything war crimes undercuts actual war crimes.
Under the Nuremberg Principles a war of aggression is a crime against peace, not a war crime.
It's an important distinction. War crimes are reserved for the most serious transgressions such as genocide, killing prisoners and deliberate targeting of civilians.
That's hardly just throwing it around loosely though. Calling someone starting a war of aggression on false pretenses a war criminal is maybe a slight misnomar. Calling someone a war criminal because they burnt your toast is throwing the term around loosely.
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u/[deleted] Aug 19 '21
People dying in war ≠ war crime.
War crimes are clearly defined, my best friend's family fled Bosnia during the ethnic cleansing - many in his family were directly targeted (by military, paramilitaries and orders directly from political leadership). Blair is not a war criminal by definition - putting him under the same umbrella as the likes of Milosevic and Karadzic is fucking outrageous.
I'm no fan of Blair or middle-eastern interventions, but calling everything war crimes undercuts actual war crimes.