Saving Soldiers or Civilians?: Casualty-Aversion versus Civilian Protection in Asymmetric Conflicts

306 Pages·2018·3.94 MB·English

by  Sebastian Kaempf

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Saving Soldiers or Civilians?
Concerns for the lives of soldiers and innocent civilians have come to
underpin Western, and particularly American, warfare. Yet this new
mode of conflict faces a dilemma: these two norms have opened new
areas of vulnerability that have been systematically exploited by non-
state adversaries. This strategic behaviour creates a trade-off, forcing
decision-makerstohavetochoosebetweensavingsoldiersandcivilians
intargetstates.SebastianKaempfexaminestheoriginandnatureofthis
dilemma and, in a detailed analysis of the US conflicts in Somalia,
Afghanistan and Iraq, investigates the ways the US has responded,
assessing the legal, moral and strategic consequences. Scholars and
students of military and strategic studies, international relations and
peaceandconflictstudieswillbeinterestedtoreadKaempf’sanalysis
ofwhethertheUSoritsadversarieshavesucceededinrespondingtothis
centraldilemmaofcontemporarywarfare.
DrSebastianKaempfisSeniorLecturerinPeaceandConflictStudiesat
the School of Political Science and International Studies at the
UniversityofQueensland,Australia.Hisresearchinterestsareininter-
nationalsecurity,peaceandconflictstudies,theethicsandthelawsof
war,andtheimpactofdigitalnewmediatechnologyoncontemporary
security.HehaswonanAustraliannationalawardforteachingexcel-
lence (AAUT) and is the convener of the massive open online course
(MOOC) ‘MediaWarX’ (see: https://www.edx.org/course/global-medi
a-war-technology-uqx-mediawarx-0).

Saving Soldiers or Civilians?
Casualty-Aversion versus Civilian Protection
in Asymmetric Conflicts
Sebastian Kaempf
UniversityofQueensland
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www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781108427647
DOI:10.1017/9781108551816
©SebastianKaempf2018
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten
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Firstpublished2018
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accurateorappropriate.
To my parents, Ulrike and Michael

Contents
Acknowledgements pageviii
ListofAbbreviations xii
ListofInterviewees xiv
Introduction 1
1 USWarfareandCivilianProtection 15
2 USWarfareandCasualty-Aversion 48
3 TheInteractiveDynamicsofAsymmetricConflicts 81
4 CaseStudyI:TheUSInterventioninSomalia 108
5 CaseStudyII:TheUSWarinAfghanistan 155
6 CaseStudyIII:TheUSWarinIraq 198
Conclusion 240
Bibliography 255
Index 284
vii
Acknowledgements
WritingtheacknowledgementstothisbookinalittlecaféinBerlin(some
thingsneverchange)onacold,rainyautumnafternoonmakesmeaware
of two things. On the one hand, it has been a remarkable, fun, and
intellectually thrilling but also long and exhausting journey that began
inAberystwythintheUKandthatendedhalfwayaroundtheglobeatthe
University of Queensland (UQ) in Australia – with two longer research
stintsatBrownUniversityinProvidence,RIandHumboldtUniversityin
Berlin.Ontheotherhand,IrealisedhowfortunateIhavebeentocome
acrosssomanyamazingpeopleinthecourseofthatintellectualjourney.
To various degrees they have all fostered my enthusiasm for this topic,
helping me develop critical thoughts and the ability to question, which
haveresultedinthisendproduct.
Atthesametime,manyofthosewhohavecontributedtothisintellec-
tualjourneyhavealsobecomeclosefriendswhosesupportandcompany
have been exceptional and who are very dear to me. Maybe every book
projectisanemotionalrollercoasterride;minecertainlyfeltlikeit.Ithas
been comforting to know that there has been this tremendous support
through highs and lows, through enchanting moments and moments of
frustration,personalloss,andillness.
EventhoughIamrightnowfeelingexhaustedfromaredraftingprocess
whichseemedneverending,thetremendousfeelingofgratitudeprevails
for all those who I have been fortunate enough to get to know and who
havemadethistheremarkableexperienceithasbeenforme.
First and foremost, I want to thank my two PhD supervisors, Nick
Wheeler and Alastair Finlan. It is difficult to put into a few lines the
amountof gratitude and admiration I feelfor your exceptional support,
the outstanding supervisions, the spot-on yet always very constructive
criticism, and your commitment to what was the beginning of this
research project. At this point I also want to thank Jan Selby for his
great job as secondary supervisor in my first two years before his move
toSussex.
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