system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: How is it that ISIS can "get away" with killing journalists?

To the best of my knowledge, doesn't murdering a journalist go completely against Protocol I of the Geneva Conventions, thus making it a war crime that is punishable by war from the rest of the world basically? How are they getting away with these journalist executions? By get away, I mean not having war declared, or any other sanctions put against them.
gpt
IIRC, only signatory nations can be held to the Geneva conventions. Additionally, no government recognizes ISIS as a legitimate nation, to do so would legitimize their illegal operation. If we don't recognize them as a nation, we can't truly declare war on them.

Also, no one wants another ground war against an insurgent group in the Middle East. They tend not to go well for the attackers.