K a e m p Saving Soldiers f S or Civilians? a v i n g Casualty-Aversion versus S o Civilian Protection in l d i e Asymmetric Conflicts r s o r Sebastian Kaempf C i v i l i a n s ? 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 UniversityPrintingHouse,CambridgeCB28BS,UnitedKingdom OneLibertyPlaza,20thFloor,NewYork,NY10006,USA 477WilliamstownRoad,PortMelbourne,VIC3207,Australia 314–321,3rdFloor,Plot3,SplendorForum,JasolaDistrictCentre, NewDelhi–110025,India 79AnsonRoad,#06–04/06,Singapore079906 CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge. ItfurtherstheUniversity’smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitof education,learning,andresearchatthehighestinternationallevelsofexcellence. www.cambridge.org Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781108427647 DOI:10.1017/9781108551816 ©SebastianKaempf2018 Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements, noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress. Firstpublished2018 PrintedintheUnitedKingdombyClays,StIvesplc AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. ISBN978-1-108-42764-7Hardback CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyof URLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain, 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. viii