Free-fire zone

{{Short description|Area into which any weapon system may fire without additional coordination}} A '''free-fire zone''' is an area in which any person present is deemed an enemy combatant who can be targeted by opposing military forces. The concept of a free-fire zone does not exist in international law, and failing to distinguish between combatants and civilians is a war crime.<ref>[https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/customary-ihl/v1/rule1#title-2 Rule 1. The Principle of Distinction between Civilians and Combatants] International Committee of the Red Cross</ref>

== World War II ==

General Chuck Yeager in his autobiography describes his (and his associates') disapproval of shoot-anything-that-moves low level strafing missions during World War II (although they were not necessarily called "free-fire zone" missions). He described his feeling that, had the U.S. lost the war, it might have been considered criminal.<ref name="yeager1" />

== Vietnam War == {{see also|Vietnam War body count controversy}} Returning veterans, affected civilians and others have said that U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV), based on the assumption that all friendly forces had been cleared from the area, established a policy designating "free-fire zones" as areas in which: *Anyone unidentified is considered an enemy combatant *Soldiers were to shoot anyone moving around after curfew without first making sure that they were hostile.

Gunter Lewy estimated that 1/3 of those killed and counted as "enemy KIA" killed by US/GVN forces were civilians. He estimates around 220,000 civilians were counted as "enemy KIA" in battlefield operations reports during battles against VC/NVA. Lewy estimated the use of free-fire zones was an important factor in this.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=spc4DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA34|title=East Asia's Other Miracle: Explaining the Decline of Mass Atrocities|last=Bellamy|first=Alex J.|date=2017-09-29|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780191083785|pages=33–34|language=en}}</ref> There are no distinctions between enemy KIA and civilian KIA inadvertently killed in the crossfire or through deployment of heavy artillery, aerial bombardment and so-on.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thevietnamwar.info/free-fire-zone/|title=Free Fire Zone|date=10 April 2014|access-date=15 June 2018|archive-date=28 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190428232122/https://thevietnamwar.info/free-fire-zone/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=":12">{{Cite web|url=http://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a096431.pdf|title=Declassification of the BDM Study, "The Strategic Lessons Learned in Vietnam"|publisher=Defense Technical Center|pages=225–234|access-date=2018-06-15|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20190412100450/http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a096431.pdf|archive-date=2019-04-12|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite book|title=Working-Class War: American Combat Soldiers and Vietnam|last=Appy|first=Christian|publisher=UNC Chapel Hill|year=1993|url=http://projectsmrj.pbworks.com/f/Working+Class+War+-+Christian+Appy.pdf|page=273}}</ref> Part of this stemmed from the doctrine requirements of producing "enemy body count" during the Vietnam War, which saw violations and statistical manipulations due to ongoing pressures from MACV on units.<ref name=":3" />

=== Dellums hearings ===

Free-fire zones were discussed during 1971 ad hoc (i.e. not endorsed by Congress) hearings sponsored by Congressman Ron Dellums (California), organized by Citizens' Commission of Inquiry on US War Crimes (CCI).<ref name=uhl/>

=== Lawrence Wilkerson ===

Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson flew helicopters low and slow through Vietnam. He claims to have had vocal disagreements with some of his superiors and members of his own gunner crew over free-fire zones, including an incident in which one of his crew shot a wagon that had a little girl inside of it. He describes one incident in which he prevented an atrocity by purposely placing his helicopter between a position that was full of civilians and another helicopter that wanted to launch an attack on the position.<ref name=nels/> ==Israel–Hamas war== Israel has been accused of treating Gaza as a free-fire zone during the war.<ref name="u679">{{cite web | title=Israeli army in Gaza shot 'as they pleased' in free-fire policy | publisher=The New Arab | date=2024-07-09 | url=https://www.newarab.com/news/israeli-army-gaza-shot-they-pleased-free-fire-policy | access-date=2024-09-28}}</ref><ref name="x496">{{cite web | last=Beaumont | first=Peter | title=Israel’s rules of engagement seem looser than ever – if they are followed at all | website=the Guardian | date=2024-04-03 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/03/israels-rules-of-engagement-seem-looser-than-ever-if-they-are-followed-at-all | access-date=2024-09-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Monks |first1=Kieron |title=Israel created free-fire ‘kill zones’ in Gaza, soldiers tell newspaper |url=https://inews.co.uk/news/world/israel-free-fire-kill-zones-gaza-2985281?srsltid=AfmBOopdP67YAxTtlswESZtYkPH1T9z2Vmf5F1IzgVoDt3DuPETiAXdp |access-date=28 September 2024 |work=inews.co.uk |date=1 April 2024 |language=en}}</ref>

== References ==

<ref name=uhl>[http://www.thenation.com/article/thats-vietnam-jake?page=0,2 That's Vietnam, Jake] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014170020/http://www.thenation.com/article/thats-vietnam-jake?page=0,2 |date=2012-10-14 }}, by Michael Uhl, The Nation, November 29, 2001</ref>

<ref name=nels>Deborah Nelson, [http://www.thewarbehindme.com/about.php “The War Behind Me: Vietnam Veterans Confront the Truth About U.S. War Crimes”] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717042423/http://www.thewarbehindme.com/about.php |date=2011-07-17 }}, Basic Books, {{ISBN|978-0-465-00527-7}}, October 28, 2008</ref>

<ref name=yeager1>{{cite book|last1= Yeager |first1= Chuck |author-link1= Chuck Yeager |last2= Janos |first2= Leo |title= Yeager: An Autobiography |publisher= Bantam |date= 1986-08-01 |isbn= 978-0-553-25674-1 }} </ref>

</references>

== Further reading == * Lewis M. Simmons, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20050924182430/http://www.crimesofwar.org/thebook/free-fire-zones.html Free Fire Zones]", in ''Crimes of War: What the Public Should Know'', Roy Gutman, Ed, W. W. Norton & Company, July 1999, {{ISBN|978-0-393-31914-9}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Free-Fire Zone}} Category:Military terminology Category:Vietnam War