[Dan(9698)]

...odd that the reverse is generally true under geneva convention

The real purpose of jacketed bullets used by the military is to wound the enemy. It ties up several others to care for a wounded. A dead enemy can be forgotten.

Ultimately, a war is economic and the first to run out of troops and recources is more likely to lose.

Troops that are tied up moving wounded or providing care for wounded cannot be used as front line troops.

[xsrdx]

The real purpose of jacketed bullets used by the military is to wound the enemy.

Myth. Nobody working on military ammo today is concerned about anything but "incapacitation" - FMJ is selected for reliable feeding in automatic weapons, and compliance with the law of land warfare.

You might win the battle if you leave combatants alive, but you will lose the war.

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

"The real purpose of jacketed bullets used by the military is to wound the enemy. It ties up several others to care for a wounded. A dead enemy can be forgotten."

Actually, it's the other way around. Hollow, or soft point bullets cause debilitating injuries to legs and arms; while jacketed bullets would pass through, relatively cleanly. Many thousands of amputations in WWI (on both sides) resulted from deliberate targeting of the enemies extremities.

With torso shots, you're right -- jacketed bullets are more likely to be survivable. However, torso shots are generally meant to be kill shots -- for a strategy of causing only injuries, you would target the extremities.

Of course, anything that results in a war being resolved with fewer deaths or debilitating injuries is a good thing.

[FreedomCalls]

The real purpose of jacketed bullets used by the military is to wound the enemy. It ties up several others to care for a wounded. A dead enemy can be forgotten. Troops that are tied up moving wounded or providing care for wounded cannot be used as front line troops.

And in the present conflict, we wound our enemies, the rest run away, and we are left to take care of their wounded, tying up our resources, increasing our logistical tail, and giving the enemy propaganda to use against us. Interesting how that has worked out for us.