Law of War Manual

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Pentagon’s revised Law of War Manual recognizes role of independent journalists

Washington, July 22, 2016–The Pentagon no longer considers journalists operating independently of U.S. military forces as potential spies, terrorists, or saboteurs, according to U.S. military officials who have rewritten the military’s Law of War Manual.

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A press briefing at the Pentagon in April. Worrying guidelines on how the military can categorize the press during conflict are contained in the Defense Department's Law of War Manual. (AP/Andrew Harnik)

In times of war, Pentagon reserves right to treat journalists like spies

The Pentagon has produced its first Department of Defense-wide Law of War Manual and the results are not encouraging for journalists who, the documents state, may be treated as “unprivileged belligerents.” But the manual’s justification for categorizing journalists this way is not based on any specific case, law or treaty. Instead, the relevant passages have…

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