| let`s all remember that there is a big difference between saying war crimes were committed and that any individual soldier committed a war crime. undoubtedly civilians were killed in instances that were disproportionate to any specific military need, from a reasonable military commander`s perspective. but that is only the conduct element of the crime. a mental element also has to be alleged when bring charges against any specific soldier or commander, and circumstances have to be very obvious to allow one to infer criminal intent or negligence beyond a reasonable doubt. normal mistakes of judgment or identity on the battlefield do not support war crimes charges against individuals, even if their results are disproportionate civilian death. we`ll see the report when it comes out, and we`ll continue to follow the potential spain cases, but i doubt that all of the elements of a war crime will be satisfied in any individual case. |
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