SAW:��First impressions

[Riley D. Smith]

Interesting points from both of you.

Oz...as usual you are wealth of knowledge. Very insightful your points relating to casualties. That (and any guerilla fought war) are so different in how the defenders view losses.

And of course, guerrilla warfare (as well as actions employing terrorism) rarely revolves around taking objectives. It is about leaving your opponent wondering "why did they destroy that building?" or creating the total uncertainty what/where/when deaths or destruction may occur. This warfare is much more mental than physical, although it of course takes on aspects of both.

The mujahideen were (and are for that matter) so successful at this. As were the Viet Cong (and the Viet Minh before them). The Vietnamese villagers were FAR more concerned with crossing the VC/VM than they EVER were with the consequences of not cooperating with the US miltary. Were they largely hated? Of course. But if you see your village chieftan carted away and his family brutally murdered it is pretty easy to see how you would say "no...no VC here".

Of course, the real losers in these sort of confilicts are the indigenous population as they are stuck square in the middle.