...and it's been going on for ten thousand years...

I can't get too upset about it, at least not yet. And no, I haven't read the article yet, either.

Desecrating bodies, huh?

As this summary indicates, the duty owed to the dead is somewhat subjective. What sort of conduct constitutes disrespect? How can we determine when neglect of the dead has ceased to be mandated by considerations of military necessity and become evidence of the war crime of mistreatment of the dead? There are no hard and fast answers to these questions. However, if the dead are left on the battlefield for some time after the fighting has ended, their very presence is evidence of failure to meet the obligations imposed by law. If the dead are left on the field solely so that they might be seen by journalists or photographed, that is stronger evidence that the threshold of mistreatment is near. If the dead are placed on display as propaganda (dragging the bodies through the streets as occurred in Somalia is a ready example), then the threshold has been crossed and a war crime has been clearly committed. (The whole thing is here.)

Where is the line drawn? At the Pawnee and other nations driving arrows in corpes and mutilating them in other ways? At the ancient Persians and Judeans counting the dead by the number of penises cut off? By the British (and other) troops in WW1 propping up an enemy corpse and having it hold a directional sign and a cigarette? At British, Tory, and American troops scalping enemies in the 18th Century? At the Allied troops bulldozing the bodies into mass graves at Dachau?

Like I said, it's been going on for ten thousand years....