I'm sure you didn't mean it quite this way, but it does not become perfectly fine. Just because the Americans misused the convention of the white flag, that event does not then confer the "right" to misuse it to everyone. Tit-for-tat might be the way of the world, but it is not a justifcation for ignoring conventions that save lives.

It's the same argument as we've been having in the torture thread - they do it, so we can too. That way barbarism lies.

@Odin - I think we shall have to agree to disagree. I cannot seem to make headway on your position, and you probably think the same about mine.

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It's a break on the 2 way trust and only shows that it's that particular faction doesn't abaide the rules concerning the white flag. If I go with a green flag and claims that this green flag forces your side to surrender and you don't accept that, the flag is useless and serves no purpose.
Same thing applies to someone that breaks the white flag principle often enough.

You're perfectly correct that is not giving the right to do this against any other faction, but if one particular faction ignores it, the only thing you can do is to not trust the white flag used by that faction, because they have proven themself to not be trustworthy on that principle.

It's the same making a strategy of faking your surrender to then fire, suddenly does shooting surrenders make a somewhat practical strategy (making the comrades of the false surrenders suffering, although doing that will probably make the enemy fight to the death).

Everything you do on the battlefield has consequences in the future.

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