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Full Idea
Soldiers must feel safe among civilians if civilians are ever to be safe from soldiers.
Gist of Idea
Soldiers will only protect civilians if they feel safe from them
Source
Michael Walzer (Just and Unjust Wars [1977], 11)
Book Ref
Walzer,Michael: 'Just and Unjust Wars' [Penguin 1984], p.182
A Reaction
This is the great dilemma of any resistance movement. It is very easy for the soldiers to abuse their power, even if they do feel safe. Then what?
| 23576 | Sacking a city is lawful if it motivates the attacking troops [Vitoria] |
| 20001 | The only right victors have over captives is the protection of the former [Montesquieu] |
| 23850 | The soldier-civilian distinction should be abolished; every citizen is committed to a war [Weil] |
| 23579 | Soldiers will only protect civilians if they feel safe from them [Walzer] |
| 23586 | What matters in war is unacceptable targets, not unacceptable weapons [Walzer] |
| 23591 | If the oppressor is cruel, nonviolence is either surrender, or a mere gesture [Walzer] |
| 23602 | Innocence implies not being morally responsible, rather than merely being guiltless [McMahan] |