Avoiding Collateral Damage on the Battlefield
by Lt. Col. John Cherry, Sqn. Ldr. Kieran Tinkler and Michael Schmitt
February 11, 2021
Recently, authors writing in these pages (see here and here) have criticized the progress made by the United States, and by implication its allies, on protecting civilians during combat operations. To fully and fairly assess them, such charges merit in-depth contextual examination. For instance, sense of scale can be skewed by zeroing in on operations gone wrong, to the neglect of those in which efforts to avoid, or at least reduce, civilian casualties have proved successful. And discussion of the subject often inadequately captures the complexity of some battlefields, where opponents fail to distinguish themselves, operate among the civilian population, use human shields, or even engage in activities meant to cause civiliancasualties that can be blamed on their enemy, an especially reprehensible form of so-called “lawfare†(see, e.g., here and here).
Yet claims of insufficient progress must be taken seriously. As individuals who have served in military operations, we will be the first to admit that perspective bias can manifest on both sides of the issue. Warfare, and indeed the law of armed conflict, involves a delicate balancing of humanitarian concerns and military exigencies. How individuals and organizations make that balance inevitably reflects their perspective. We can learn from each other.
https://www.justsecurity.org/74619/avoiding-collateral-damage-on-the-battlefield/
