Comments by "bart thomassen thomassen" (@thomassenbart) on "Francois Balloux is WRONG about War Crimes" video.

  1. There is no such thing as NCV in international law. Delori 2020, p. 317-318: "NCCV depends, notably, on two factors. It depends, firstly, on the subjective assessment of the 'value' of civilians. In this respect, the most important variable is geographical or/and racial. When a 'terrorist' attack occurs on the territory of a Western state, the NCCV used by police and military forces is close to zero, meaning that they do not want to put at risk any French or Western civilian. When they operate in the non-Western world, however, the NCCV rises significantly. This is why Western forces use different instruments depending on whether they operate in a Western country or in other parts of the world: elite commandos on the ground in the former case, armed drones and fighter-bomber jets in the latter. Secondly, the NCCV depends on the subjective assessment of the value of the military target. During the US war in Iraq, for instance, the Rules of Engagement allowed for an NCCV of 29 for each 'high-value military target'. This meant, in practice, that pilots were allowed to kill up to 29 civilians in order to eliminate a high-ranking member of Al Qaida or a senior official of Saddam Hussein's regime. When the target is a just a rank-and-file jihadist, the NCCV falls significantly. This means, in practice, that the value of non-western human lives is a function of the target's value. The framing of a person as a 'high value military target' means that more people situated nearby can be killed or, at least, put at risk." Adams 2017, p. footnote 13: "During the initial invasion of Iraq in 2003, the NCV was set at thirty, reflecting the lower value placed on central control of targeting decisions during the early phase of combat operations. See McNeal, supra note 6, at 751. This can be contrasted with operations in Afghanistan in 2009 where the NCV was set at one. Id. at 751–52. Up until 2008, approval for strikes required approval from the National Command Authority at Central Command Headquarters in Tampa, FL. Id. at 752. After 2009, approval was withheld at the Secretary of Defense level. Id."
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