The laws of war are silent on what should happen after the bombs have dropped. Civilians lawfully harmed in war are often left with nothing. Do we owe war's survivors something more? CIVIC is arguing for a new standard of conduct one that expects warring parties to 'make amends' to the civilians they harm. This principle already is at work in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere.

Sarah Holewinski is the executive director of CIVIC, the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict. She has traveled to Afghanistan, Iraq, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Lebanon and Israel to lobby for smarter, more compassionate policies for war victims. Sarah is a frequent commentator on armed conflict with major media outlets including CNN, the BBC, the Washington Post, USA Today, and the International Herald Tribune. Prior to joining CIVIC, Sarah was a member of The White House AIDS Policy team throughout President Clinton's second term. She later joined West Wing Writers, a firm of White House speechwriters with clients like former President Clinton and Bill Gates. Sarah is on the board of directors of InterAction, the board of principles of the Truman National Security Project and a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations.