Air Power, Insurgency and the “War on Terror” - Prof. Joel Hayward's ...

<strong>Air</strong> <strong>Power</strong> <strong>and</strong> Counter-insurgency: Back to <strong>the</strong> Basics
from a local newspaper stating that we killed 30 unarmed people,
including women <strong>and</strong> children. They have suddenly begun making
fantastic charges against gunboats on <strong>the</strong> main river. That is why we
have new orders not to fire back blindly against ambushers, because
if we do <strong>the</strong> students will make a big lie of each occasion. We are up
against lying as a matter of planned strategy. … We are fighting lies now,
not armed men. 503
Insurgents <strong>and</strong> non-state forces confronting <strong>the</strong> regular military forces, especially of
western states, will commonly focus <strong>the</strong>ir propag<strong>and</strong>a efforts against <strong>the</strong> technological
advantage of <strong>the</strong> counter-insurgent forces. US <strong>and</strong> western nations are portrayed as using
<strong>the</strong>ir asymmetric technological advantage as a means to bully <strong>and</strong> repress <strong>the</strong> civilian
population. In China in <strong>the</strong> 1920s, <strong>the</strong> gunboat was <strong>the</strong> symbol of western technology
<strong>and</strong> oppression. Today, air power is <strong>the</strong> force that is especially singled out as <strong>the</strong> primary
symbol of repression. It is easy to make fantastic charges against air forces, <strong>and</strong> accuse
<strong>the</strong>m of deliberately bombing civilians, because <strong>the</strong> insurgent still controls <strong>the</strong> ground at
<strong>the</strong> end of <strong>the</strong> day. This means that <strong>the</strong> insurgent also controls <strong>the</strong> story, <strong>and</strong> accusations
of brutality through air power makes great for sensational news stories. Insurgents <strong>and</strong>
non-state forces are also assisted by a news media, often <strong>the</strong> western media, because <strong>the</strong>y
will print <strong>the</strong> insurgent <strong>and</strong> radical casualty claims without disclaimer or comment, often
repeating ludicrously high figures of civilian casualties <strong>and</strong> damage to civilian homes.
Indeed, insurgents <strong>and</strong> non-state groups get so much propag<strong>and</strong>a value from civilian
casualties that <strong>the</strong>y readily use <strong>the</strong> civilian population as human shields. The tactic of
placing heavy weapons in highly populated areas in <strong>the</strong> hope that <strong>the</strong> air force will attack
<strong>the</strong>m <strong>and</strong> inflict collateral damage has become a common insurgent strategy.
During Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon, <strong>the</strong> PLO placed artillery pieces <strong>and</strong> anti-aircraft
guns in civilian neighbourhoods, on <strong>the</strong> roofs of apartment houses, <strong>and</strong> even on hospital
grounds. 504 They hoped to provoke <strong>the</strong> Israelis to attack targets with <strong>the</strong> assurance of
heavy civilian casualties. If <strong>the</strong> Israelis refrained from attacking, <strong>the</strong> PLO preserved its
forces <strong>and</strong> equipment. If Israel attacked, <strong>the</strong> resulting dead civilians could be displayed
to <strong>the</strong> world as victims of Israeli aggression. For <strong>the</strong> PLO, it was a win-win situation.
What <strong>the</strong> PLO did in 1982, <strong>and</strong> similar actions by Hezbollah in <strong>the</strong> 2006 conflict with
Israel, are clearly war crimes under <strong>the</strong> Geneva Conventions. Although using civilians as
human shields is a gross violation of international law, many in elite circles in <strong>the</strong> west are
willing to give warring non-state groups a pass on following <strong>the</strong> basic rules of warfare. In
1983 an “International Commission” of European academics presented a case against <strong>the</strong>
Israeli <strong>Air</strong> Force that appealed to <strong>the</strong> anti-Israel bias common to many European circles.
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<strong>Air</strong> <strong>Power</strong>, <strong>Insurgency</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> “War on Terror”