The views of military authorities about methods of this kind, as also of those which are on the borderline, frequently differ from the views held by notable jurists. So also the putting on of enemy’s uniforms, the employment of enemy or neutral flags and marks, with the object of deception are as a rule declared permissible by the theory of the laws of war,[68] while military writers[69] have expressed themselves unanimously against them. The Hague Conference has adopted the latter view in forbidding the employment of enemy’s uniforms and military marks equally with the misuse of flags of truce and of the Red Cross.[70]
The Corruption of others may be useful.
And murder is one of the Fine Arts.
Bribery of the enemy’s subjects with the object of obtaining military advantages, acceptance of offers of treachery, reception of deserters, utilization of the discontented elements in the population, support of pretenders and the like, are permissible, indeed international law is in no way opposed[71] to the exploitation of the crimes of third parties (assassination, incendiarism, robbery, and the like) to the prejudice of the enemy.
The ugly is often expedient, and that it is a mistake to be too “nice-minded.”
Considerations of chivalry, generosity, and honor may denounce in such cases a hasty and unsparing exploitation of such advantages as indecent and dishonorable, but law which is less touchy allows it.[72] “The ugly and inherently immoral aspect of such methods cannot affect the recognition of their lawfulness. The necessary aim of war gives the belligerent the right and imposes upon him, according to circumstances, the duty not to let slip the important, it may be the decisive, advantages to be gained by such means.[73]
CHAPTER III
TREATMENT OF WOUNDED AND SICK SOLDIERS
The generally accepted principle that in war one should do no more harm to one’s enemy than the object of the war unconditionally requires, has led to treating the wounded and sick combatants as being no longer enemies, but merely sick men who are to be taken care of and as much as possible protected from the tragic results of wounds and illness. Although endeavors to protect the wounded soldiers from arbitrary slaughter, mutilation, ill-treatment, or other brutalities go back to the oldest times, yet the credit of systematizing these endeavors belongs to the nineteenth century, and this system was raised to the level of a principle of international law by the Geneva Convention of 1864.