A Moral Military

7. Nonhostile Relations with the Enemy

7 Nonhostile Relations with the Enemy W hat dealings, other than hostilities, does a military unit have with its enemy? In addition to the responsibility for POWs, several kinds are to be expected. An armistice period, a period in which fighting ceases, may have to be arranged and carefully monitored. A surrender may be agreed upon and carried out. These activities , along with travel within occupied territory, must be regulated. Occupation of a territory may require all or most of the machinery of the ordinary government. Parlementaires In order to make the arrangements for an armistice, a surrender, or a safeguard for persons such as diplomats, the wounded, and civilians, it is necessary to communicate with the enemy. The term parlementaires (speakers) refers to persons who are used to speak or negotiate with the enemy commander. FM 27-10 notes that, in the past, negotiations were customarily started by displaying a white flag; however, in modern military operations, a white flag might be a very slow or useless way of getting the enemy’s attention. Although the white flag still retains its meaning, messages sent by radio or dropped by aircraft are now more efficient. The symbolic white flag can mean either that the party (or the individual) wishes to surrender or that the commander wants to send a parlementaire for a discussion. The person carrying the white flag “has a right to inviolability,” according to the Hague Rules, Article 32. That protection also covers the party accompanying that person, specified in the Hague Rules as “the trumpeter, bugler or drummer, the flag bearer and the interpreter.” Of course the musical accompaniment is not just aesthetic; it calls attention to the idea of the special protection that is to be given to the parlementaire. While the parlementaire is not to be attacked while advancing toward the enemy, discussing the business at hand, or returning to his or her own side, this protection holds only if that person does not take advantage of the position “to provoke or commit an act of treachery.”1 The white flag, or “flag of truce,” is not to be abused. It is an abuse of the flag to continue an attack while the parlementaire is still conducting business; to use the flag to halt the opponent’s attack without any intention of sending a parlementaire ; and, of course, to use the flag to signal surrender as a trick to continue or to launch an attack. Armistices An armistice or truce is a period during which the belligerents have agreed to stop hostilities. Far from a peace, it is merely a halting of active hostilities , based on an agreement between the opponents. That agreement might cover just one section of the conflict or all hostilities by all forces; it might be a brief suspension to collect and bury the dead, care for the wounded, and exchange POWs. Two essentials are usually stressed when considering armistices. First, the precise details of the agreement should be presented in writing, if possible: the exact start and end, the exact area covered, and what is and is not prohibited during the period. Second, these details are to be precisely carried out. FM 2710 adds its own language to the Hague Rules, and in Paragraph 493 states, “An armistice, like other formal agreements between belligerents, engages the honor of both parties for the exact and complete fulfillment of every obligation thereby imposed. It would be an outrageous act of perfidy for either party, without warning, to resume hostilities during the period of an armistice”— unless, of course, there is clear proof of violation by the other side. The Field Manual adds that an armistice is no excuse for lack of vigilance. Surrenders A formal surrender is based on an agreement about the exact conditions to be followed by both sides. Such an agreement is called a capitulation, and it can be either oral or written. Of course, a surrender can take place without a formal capitulation statement. As one might expect, the Hague Rules insist on strict honesty in the matter: “Capitulations agreed upon between the contracting parties must 108 / Chapter 7 take into account the rules of military honour. Once settled, they must be scrupulously observed by both parties.”2 This rule requires that there be no capitulation that agrees to anything that military honor forbids, such as rape and torture. The obvious...