- Dep't of Defense Interim Guidance for Defense Acquisition (30 Oct 2002).
I. BACKGROUND
A. "Means and methods" is the term commonly used to refer to the area of law
governing the conduct of hostilities -the Jus in Bello. The "justness" of the
conflict or how the parties ended up at armed conflict is not addressed. Rather,
this area of law deals with how the parties conduct the armed conflict once
engaged.
B. Portions of this area of law overlap and intermingle with other key law of war
documents, particularly the 1949 Geneva Conventions. Therefore it is important
when working in this area to also read and cross-reference the related Geneva
Conventions to ensure a complete picture of the relevant law.
C. This area of law addresses two interrelated areas: (1) the methods of warfare;
that is, tactics or how we go about fighting; and (2) the means of warfare, that is,
what instruments of war we use to fight. This outline discusses both areas.
11. PRINCIPLES
A. The four key principles of the law of war:
- Military necessitylmilitary objective
- Proportionality
- Humanitylunnecessary suffering
B. Principle of Military Necessity. That principle which justifies those measures
not forbidden by international law which are indispensable for securing the
complete submission of the enemy as soon as possible. FM 27-10, para. 3.
Defined originally in the Lieber Code: "those measures which are indispensable
for securing the ends of war, and which are, lawfd according to the modem laws
and usages of war." Lieber Code, art. 14.
- These definitions have two common elements:
a. A military requirement to undertake the action; and
