What is a War Crime? (E135)

What is a War Crime? (E135)

From The Ancient Art of Modern Warfare by Chris Mayer National Security and Strategy Consultant

April 18, 2026 · 10 min · Episode 136

About this episode

This episode explores the concept of war crimes, particularly in the context of Western military actions and the biases surrounding such claims.

Every time the United States or Israel use military force, there are immediate claims that those military forces are committing war crimes. I also note that such claims are never made about the opposing side, whether that is Hamas, Hizbollah, Houthis, Iran or any other state or non-state armed group opposing Western armed forces. It also seems that there are voices that insist than any military operation is unjust and constitutes a war crime, at last if the party involved is from the West. Aside from the bias, there is the deliberate use of the term “war crime,” intended to be inflammatory and de-legitimize the accused party, raising images of Nazi and Japanese atrocities of WW2. In this episode I describe what is a war crime under international and U.S. national law. You may be surprised at what is and what isn’t a war crime. I conclude with the claim of Pope Leo IV and the response from the White House. As usual, the opinions in these podcasts are my own and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Department of Defense, anyone else in the U.S. Government, or any other organization I am or ever have been associated with. I also want to reiterate that I am not a law of…

People in this episode

Host: Chris Mayer

Topics covered

  • war crimes
  • international law
  • military operations
  • bias in warfare
  • U.S. military
  • legal definitions

Keywords

  • war crime
  • international law
  • military force
  • bias
  • U.S. Government
  • laws of war
  • Pope Leo IV

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Department of Defense, DoD Law of War Manual, The Hague Convention

Places: United States, Israel, Hamas, Hizbollah, Houthis, Iran

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