by Ted Onulak

Created on: May 05, 2008

Whether the conflict is in Somalia, Afghanistan, or Iraq, with downcast eyes and a shrug of the shoulders, the loss of civilian life in the day-to day operations against terrorists and insurgents, is usually, "...it can't be helped...". The reasons are not difficult to understand.

Any force operating in an unknown environment operates at a loss. The population fears them, doesn't understand or really knows why they are here. Some Union soldiers once asked a Confederate prisoner whether he owned slaves. When the answer came back negative, they asked why was he fighting them. The Confederate soldier answered, "Because you're down here." The comparison of the War on Terror with the World Wars of the 20th century is useless, bordering on the ridiculous. Their only two salient points which may apply to conflicts of the present era; the use of terror and coercion against civilians and open warfare against the capacity of the enemy to produce the wherewithal of war. This meant killing factory workers or any other civilians near designated targets. Though many precautions are taken, it is difficult to protect the innocent in the mayhem of war.

The study of wars of liberation against colonial powers may better illuminate the nature of the current struggle in which the United States is engaged.

All wars of liberation against colonial powers were fought by irregular insurgents against well-trained, superbly armed professional armies. To offset traditional military tactics, insurgents use ambush, sabotage and terror. Since the rebels cannot win a conventional military victory, they rely on wearing down their opponents, demoralizing the occupying forces and causing economic hardship and intolerable loss of lives for the occupiers. The civilian population has little choice in abetting the rebel cause. For them the rebels may be neighbors, friends, relatives or at least their own people. It is quite natural for them to fear the rebels, those rebels know who they are and can put them in immediate jeopardy. Occupying forces may give their children candy one day and not recognize them in a firefight the next. This problem is heightened if there is real support. After all, can we really blame the civilians who on some level know that sooner or later the occupying forces will leave and they will be left to fend for themselves within a new national order? Whether the population is sympathetic to the insurgents, or merely lives in fear of them, their support for the enemy is implicit

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