As far as there being Rules of War you have to ask, Who really follows those these days? Not many. When it comes to war, its all about advancement. Who advances here and who advances there. Who keeps pushing and pushing until the other side is either no longer there or gives you what you want(sometimes that means the other cant be living anymore).
Right now in Iraq if an American soldier gets captured he is suppose to pull our this Geneva Convention card and show it to their capturers. As a medic, the card says that to the “Rules of War” you cannot be killed and must administer aid to all and any who are injured. Do you really think that the capturers are going to follow the rules? Hell NO!! They could care less.
There should not be any rules of war especially when we are one og the only countries who follow the rules. It gets too many of our guys killed when they dont have to die.