PHL378H1 Lecture : LEC18 – Counterinsurgency - War on Guerrillas Nov 10 2009
PHL378: War and Morality
LEC18 – Counterinsurgency / War on Guerrillas
Nov, 10th, 2009
US. Fighting Vietcong
Afghanistan
Counterinsurgency vs. Regular Army
! guerrillas do not wear uniform, carries arm openly
! Lackey: pg. 78 bottom
! Guerrillas hide amongst civilian population
! Waltzer: pg. 184 beginning of middle paragraph 2nd sentence
! guerrillas depend on villagers
! insurgency do not identify themselves as soldiers but fight amongst civilians
Counterinsurgency vs. Terrorists
! terrorists targets civilians
! pure insurgents do obey the discrimination condition in that they do not attack civilians and
only attack military personnel
! instead they invite their enemies to attack the civilians
! French resistance during WWII is pure insurgency
! in modern warfare, the insurgency do not only attack military but also civilian
What is status of Guerrillas?
! Waltzer: pg. 176
! German army captain says the attack of the German soldiers by Guerrillas are murder
! only soldiers have the right to attack other soldiers
! pg. 178
! does not take this view with French resistance
! the fact that French surrendered and ceded only the Northern part still gives the French
civilians right to fight
! we should remain neutral if the civilians were punished however
! resistance is legitimate, but the punishment of resistance is also legitimate (incoherent)
this is incoherent because for the punishment to be legitimate, the have to have done
something wrong in the beginning but then this does not reconcile with the first
statement that resistance is legitimate
! pg. 173
! German army attack civilians, and in this case, civilians attacking them can say they are
attacking in defence of their fellow man
! Talibans are treated as unlawful combatants and are detained in Guantanomo Bay.
! pg. 185
! if the Guerrillas have a lot of public support, then they acquire war rights, they should be
treated as POW and not be killed
! pg. 187 (middle paragraph)
! if there is wide public support, then you are not permitted to fight them at all
! pertains to ad bellum criterion
! insurgents have a status that is in between terrorists and soldiers
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