Related Rule
United States of America
Practice Relating to Rule 11. Indiscriminate Attacks
The US Air Force Pamphlet (1976) states: “Particular weapons or methods of warfare may be prohibited because of their indiscriminate effects.”
United States, Air Force Pamphlet 110-31, International Law – The Conduct of Armed Conflict and Air Operations, US Department of the Air Force, 1976, § 6-3(c).
The US Naval Handbook (2007) states: “The principle of distinction, combined with the principle of military necessity, prohibits indiscriminate attacks.”
United States, The Commander’s Handbook on the Law of Naval Operations, NWP 1-14M/MCWP 5-12.1/COMDTPUB P5800.7, issued by the Department of the Navy, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations and Headquarters, US Marine Corps, and Department of Homeland Security, US Coast Guard, July 2007, § 5.3.2.
In 1992, in its final report to Congress on the conduct of the Gulf War, the US Department of Defense stated: “Iraqi war crimes … included … indiscriminate attacks in the launching of Scud missiles against cities rather than specific military objectives, in violation of customary international law.”
United States, Department of Defense, Final Report to Congress on the Conduct of the Persian Gulf War, 10 April 1992, Appendix O, The Role of the Law of War, ILM, Vol. 31, 1992, pp. 632–633.
In its written statement submitted to the ICJ in the Nuclear Weapons (WHO) case in 1994, the United States stated: “It is unlawful to conduct any indiscriminate attack.”
United States, Written statement submitted to the ICJ, Nuclear Weapons (WHO) case, 10 June 1994, p. 27.
In 1996, the Monitoring Group on the Implementation of the 1996 Israel-Lebanon Ceasefire Understanding, consisting of France, Israel, Lebanon, the Syrian Arab Republic and the United States, issued communiqués requesting that all parties avoid arbitrary or indiscriminate attacks on inhabited areas which directly or indirectly endangered civilian life or integrity.
Monitoring Group on the Implementation of the 1996 Israel-Lebanon Ceasefire Understanding, Communiqué, 22 September 1996; Communiqué, 14–18 October 1996.
