Maybe something like this?
I think this is what the poster had in mind. 
“Rules of war” as a concept for constraining both sides to equal behaviour has no meaning. A given party may elect unilaterally to adhere to a code of conduct during the conflict, or apply a standard to a losing side post-conflict, but war is…war. To the death, even.
Whatcha gonna do if the other side cheats? Kill 'em? Ignore your own rules and join 'em in cheating?
Try then for War Crimes if you win.
Someone described the use of Q ships by the Germans in WWI as “A successful tactic if you win, a very bad one if you lose.”
How might you recognize one? They don’t exactly advertise. I have seen security contractors up close, and the company name will be either small and discreet, or non-existent. Unless the guy is wearing a company t-shirt or something…
ETA- unless they are flying a little bird, I guess- IIRC they are the only company that flies them.
I said: “… People from outside the “Coalition” and so are not considered officially protected by the US military as citizens.”
The US military is routinely assigned the task of helping or guarding US citizens when the need arises. Other foreign nationals may also be given US military assistance. E.g., the recent war in Lebanon. The US helped evacuate many US and foreign civilians from the warzone. Note that the extension to non-US nationals was purely a humantarian act on the part of the US govt. The US nor it’s armed forces is in no way obligated to help such people. If they said, “…but we won’t take the the Irish.”* then that’s just that.
But note that the Lebanese civilians weren’t afforded such help.
Hence, if you’re just some soldier/civilian of fortune from some random other country running around Iraq, don’t expect the US military to come to your aid when you get in trouble.
*“Blazing Saddles”