On 12 August 2009, just a few days back, was the 60th anniversary of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, which presently constitute the foundational codifications of the legal regime of the laws of war or international humanitarian law (IHL). The symbolic value of these fundamental legal instruments of international humanitarian law, and general public international law as a whole, cannot be overestimated. Therefore, it is with great emotional turbulence that I propose a few enthusing utterances which serve to recall some of the most colossal facets of this legal regime, and mark this momentous historic event. The definition of war and…