Proportionality should be a guideline in war

Yes, I believe that proportionality should be a guideline in war. I understand that when countries are at war with each other they want to completely destroy the other country. But in all honesty…that’s really not necessary. War…what is it good for? When one country attacks another country, the attacked country wants to get revenge. When that attacked country gets revenge, the other country gets revenge back. Just as Ishmael Beah stated in his book, revenge and revenge and revenge will never come to an end - it just keeps going and going. Proportionality should be a guideline in war. When a country completely destroys another country and feels victorious, that country should view the situation as if it were the one that was attacked. How would it feel if it was completely destroyed?

No, proportionality was not followed in WWII. The U.S. destroyed much of Japan. When The Fog of War showed the comparisons of the 67 Japanese cities that were bombed with U.S. cities, it was shocking to see in proportionality how much was truly destroyed. I do not believe that McNamara and LeMay should not have been prosecuted as war criminals because they believed that they were doing the right thing. They were doing what they could to protect their country. However if they had used proportionality as a guideline, they could have saved many lives – both Japanese and Americans. I believe that people should not be punished for doing right. I believe the U.S. is doing better in using proportionality and is using it in the war in Iraq.