What makes things like poisonous gas or some firearms banned? Most importantly, why would nations play by the rules?
Bonus question: what exactly is a war crime and how is it punishable?
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Because most of the banned weaponry and gases cause damage to civilian populations and are absolutely horrible to experience or witness. It’s one thing to see someone get their head blown off, it’s another entirely to watch someone burn to death with napalm. Or watch someone melt from certain gases. It’s a list of rules that most countries abide by. Don’t use them on us, and we won’t use them on you. And most of the countries that agree to not use them, have stockpiles of them either way. Because like you said, if you’re losing, it may turn the tide of battle. When you’re backed into a corner and have a choice, let your country be destroyed andor occupied, or use banned weapons. The problem then is, if you use them, they will be used against you as well. A war crime is any crime committed during an active war, that goes directly against treaty agreements, and rules of engagement. For instance, if I’m in the U.S. Army, and kill a couple insurgents that attacked my base, that’s no problem at all. But if I stroll into their homes and start raping their wives and killing their children, those are war crimes. If I kill people simply for being a certain race, nationality, gender, or anything that I haven’t been directed to kill by my superiors, that’s a war crime. It’s an agreement between many, many nations to ban certain types of weapons and actions in war.
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