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With states like Iraq, though, Benvenisti argued that the conventional rules still applied. It was essential to the international system to have a clear principle that "no single country has the capacity to make a judgement over the intentions of another country". Therefore if there were still time for diplomacy, a military strike (for instance against a country that was about to acquire a nuclear capability) would not be authorized under Article 51.
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Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva convention defines war crimes as: "Wilful killing, torture or inhuman treatment, including . . . wilfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health, unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement of a protected person, compelling a protected person to serve in the forces of a hostile power, or wilfully depriving a protected person of the rights of fair and regular trial, . . . taking of hostages and extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly."