Operation Featherweight: Month 3, Week 3, Day 6.

Now in it's 43rd day the battle for Kobane/Ayn al-Arab has entered yet another attrition phase. That is to say with Saturday's (25/10/14) big assault by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) being repelled we are now waiting to see if, and as is more likely when, ISIL will bring in fresh reinforcements in order to launch yet another assault. This temporary reduction in the tempo of fighting does though give me an opportunity to address one of the issues that has been developing throughout the battle.

Despite ISIL fighter's claim that it is their religious duty to give their lives to the cause the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) have been managing to capture increasing numbers of them alive. This obviously poses the question of what to do with ISIL fighters who have surrendered. Therefore I have to say that there are actually two very strong legal arguments that they can just be executed.

The first of these is the principle of " Quod Est Necessarium Est Licitum" or "That which is necessary is lawful." Basically Kobane is currently a very active combat zone meaning that the YPG do not have the capacity to hold trials or to imprison people long term. As Kobane is currently cut off from the outside world at Turkey's insistence the YPG also don't have the option of sending people to a quieter area where they can be tried and imprisoned. However if the YPG were to release any ISIL fighters that they can't try or imprison they would simply return to fighting for ISIL and therefore continue to threaten the YPG. As such even if they have got their hands up and are waving the white flag they are still considered to be combatants and can be killed like any other combatant.

Secondly the basis for any legal protection for combatants or prisoners of war is the Geneva Conventions specifically the 4th Article of the 3rd Geneva Convention. That only affords Prisoner of War status to members of militia's or volunteer corps who "That of conducting their operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war" (GCIII, A4,2[d]). There is probably not a single aspect of ISIL's conduct which is in accordance to the laws and customs of war and their use of chemical weapons, cruel and inhuman punishments and the wholesale slaughter of civilians most certainly count amongst the most serious violations. Therefore through their own conduct ISIL are not considered worthy of any legal protection including the protection against being killed.

That said though just because the YPG are legally allowed to execute members of ISIL does not necessarily mean they should. After all the mere fact that we are having this discussion helps demonstrate that morally and ethically the YPG are far superior to ISIL. However Kobane is an extremely dire situation so if it becomes a choice between surviving and dying the YPG will have to chose to survive.

What is making the situation in Kobane even more dire is that last Monday (20/10/14) the YPG were air-dropped a week's worth of supplies. Since then a week has passed and another big assault has been repelled yet there has been no air-drop of fresh supplies today which is a guaranteed way to lose a war of attrition. 

15:40 on 27/10/14 (UK date).