The sixth principle restricts destruction to what

• A. Do not destroy more than the mission requires
• B. Destroy as much as possible
• C. Only civilians' property
• D. Only enemy combatants' property

Answer: (A)

Destruction should be limited to what is necessary to accomplish the mission. This reflects the restraint built into how force is used: only what is needed to achieve a legitimate military objective, with the minimum amount of damage and risk to civilians and civilian infrastructure. In practice, you choose actions that meet the objective while avoiding excessive destruction or collateral harm, even when a target could be destroyed more extensively. The other options break this restraint: destroying as much as possible ignores military necessity and proportionality; focusing only on civilians’ property or only on enemy combatants’ property fails to account for the broader objective and the protections afforded to civilian objects and noncombatants.