War and the rules of war

As with anything else, the "rules of war" are respected only if it suits people. If you feel the need to take the moral high ground for whatever reason, then you'll respect them; if you don't and don't fear you enemies using the same tactics in retaliation, then you'll forget about them faster than you can say Geneva Convention. There's no higher authority for countries at war, so it's all a matter of what countries decide they want to respect, and that in turn is a matter of what is best for them. Simple as that.

Beside, the "rules of war" change with time. Go back to, say, the 17th or 18th century, and you'll find rules of war still exist, but not in the same form, and that the rules say different things than they do now. If they can change with time, they can change if a country decides it is so.

EDIT: Typos. Ok, I admit it, this time it wasn't so much typos as the gin I just had. Bah.

Jam it back in, in the dark.