Chapter

Bombing civilians after World War II : the persistence of norms against targeting civilians in the Korean war

Sahr Conway-Lanz

The American way of bombing : changing ethical and legal norms, from flying fortresses to drones

Ithaca (Etats-Unis) ; London : Cornell University Press, 2014

p. 47-63

English

In this chapter Sahr Conway-Lanz argues that, in spite of the high number of civilian casualties caused by bombing campaigns of World War II and the Korean War, the moral prohibition against targeting civilians did not disappear during this time in the United States. American leaders continued to claim that US air power was being used in a discriminate manner and almost never advocated the purposeful targeting of civilian populations as such. A certain elasticity in the definition of "military targets" and the emphasis placed on intention in rationalizing harm to civilians may account for the high number of civilian casualties during the Korean War. The chapter also recalls efforts to strengthen the protection of civilians and shield them from direct attack both through the revision of U.S. military manuals and the development of international humanitarian law.

• The American way of bombing : changing ethical and legal norms, from flying fortresses to drones / ed. by Matthew Evangelista and Henry Shue