ISSUE 136 : May/Jun - 1999 - Australian Defence Force Journal

44AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE FORCE JOURNAL NO. 136 MAY/JUNE 1999through economic policy, the control of information,diplomacy and warfare. In this context warfare hastwo forms, conventional and unconventional.Conventional military forces exert overt combatpower to destroy or neutralise the enemy’s plans andcapacity to wage war. Conventional military forcesgenerally focus on neutralising or destroying anopponents military capacity.This view, however, restricts conflict to thatwhich occurs between nation states, and does not takeinto account the rise of the trans-national corporation,international crime syndicates, radical religiousmovements, the break down of states and growingdisaffection within many societies. Many nation statesare losing control over economic policy andinformation, while others are disintegrating entirely.In addition the effectiveness of bi-lateral diplomacy isconstrained by multi-lateral agreements, conventionsand organisations. With these changes low intensityconflict appears to be becoming endemic, war withoutbeginning or end. In these circumstances thetraditional utility of conventional operations, as ameans of projecting national power or protectingnational interests, is reduced.Unconventional warfare, on the other hand,allows for the use of resources and capabilitiesbeyond the scope of conventional forces. Whereasconventional forces primarily depend on firepowerand mobility to achieve their aim unconventionalforces delve into the realm of illusion, half-truths,deceit, disguise, deception, cunning and guile. AsThomas Hobbes observed “force and fraud are, inwar, the two cardinal virtues.” 4 Unconventionalwarfare is primarily concerned with the secondelement of Hobbes observation. Its use enablesnation’s to project national power and protect nationalinterests in an unstructured combat environment.Unconventional warfare also shifts the focus inwarfighting from defeating an opponents militarycapacity to undermining his will to wage war.ConceptThe concept of unconventional warfare is toprotect national interests by influencing a potentialadversary to such an extent that conflict is avoided or,if this is not possible, to weaken an enemy’swarfighting capability primarily by exploiting hispolitical and psychological vulnerability’s and ifnecessary his military and economic weaknesses. Itmay be implemented unilaterally by selected forceelements or where appropriate, by providing supportand direction to indigenous resistance forces.Unconventional operations may be mounted in arange of contingencies before, during and afterconflict, and frequently rely on the indirectapplication of military force to achieve strategic oroperational objectives. In effect unconventionalwarfare can be either passive or active.Passive operations aim at preventing conflict orrestoring stability following conflict. They includebilateral and multilateral military programs andactivities that aim to enhance stability and security orto restore law and order.Active operations traditionally embrace, but arenot limited, to intelligence gathering, subversion,sabotage, evasion and escape, and the fostering ofresistance movements.In an established theatre of operations, in whichsignificant conventional ground operations are underway, unconventional warfare may be conductedprimarily to complement, support, or extend theseoperations. Within geographical areas under enemycontrol or influence, to which conventional forcescannot be deployed, unconventional warfare may beconducted as an economy of force measure and toreduce or dissipate the enemy effort.Unconventional warfare also allows seniorcommanders to extend the area of operations. Thiscan be achieved by disrupting an enemy’s operationbehind his forward elements or by extending theconflict to another front. In addition by exploiting tothe maximum extent the principles of surprise anddeception a commander can lower the enemy’sefficiency and morale as well as obtain valuableinformation. Unconventional warfare has the potentialto play a significant role in all levels of conflict. Themagnitude of the effect, relative to the effort requiredwhen this effort is judiciously applied, will normallyexceed that which can be achieved by conventionalmeans and will maximise the use of friendlyresources.The effect and effectiveness of unconventionalwarfare is felt principally at the operational andstrategic levels. Operational effect is achieved throughthe application of essentially tactical level techniquesto influence local political, military and/or economiccircumstances. Strategic effect is achieved through themanipulation of the operational level environment toachieve national political or psychological objectives.For example during Operations Desert Storm andDesert Shield US and British Special Forces operatedin Western Iraq. By conducting long rangereconnaissance, disrupting the local infrastructure,and attacking selected military targets they were ableto disrupt communications and locate and destroy a