Fought largely by independent, irregular bands [of armed forces]…it is warfare of harassment…It features the use of ambushes, hit‐and‐run raids, sabotage, and…terrorism to wear down the enemy.” That’s it then, isn’t it? Encyclopedia.com has defined guerrilla forces as using “terrorism to wear down the enemy.” Therefore to claim that the American Revolutionaries used guerrilla tactics while fighting their much larger foe, Britain; would be to claim that the American Revolutionaries were in fact terrorists. But wait; notice for a second the similarities with the definition of partisanship as presented earlier. Dictionary.com defined partisanship using such descriptions as “irregular troops… engaged in harassing an enemy…[engaging] in sabotage…” and even even goes far enough to call them “guerrilla
Yes, this nation was founded upon the morals of self-preservation of the individual, but doesn’t that also fall under the category of preservation as a state, not just the individual? As a government, it is its job as the ruling body of the state to protect its citizens. In order to protect its citizens you must be able to defend yourself from your enemies, within and abroad. The men that seek to destroy our way of life are brainwashed fanatics that have been tapped at the psychological core, to unleash a terror unto innocents in the name of a religion. The men of these terror movements are stalwart in their beliefs.
He pointed out that the war was a waste, and they were only there for their country, not for the unnecessary killing and also that fighting and killing is mentally tolling. He captures all of this when he writes one of last lines, “War is brutish, inglorious, and a terrible waste. Combat leaves and indelible mark on those who are focused to endure it. The only redeeming factors were my comrades’ incredible bravery and their devotion to each other. Marine Corps training taught us to kill efficiently and to try to survive.
Cervantes stumbled in amongst Demetrio and his band by accident. It is interesting because Demetrio tells Cervantes that he knows nothing of politics, but their purpose for fighting is change the government. Cervantes is fighting for the rights and morality of the people. He carries the highest sense of idealism for the revolutionary cause. Cervantes believes, “We are fighting a fight against tyranny itself.
With firefights, life and death situations, and the mourning of their fellow soldiers, Restrepo showed that when it comes to war, even when we win, everyone still loses. At war, winning is the main goal. Defeating the opposing side and fighting for your country is what soldiers sign up to do. However, even when the soldiers accomplish their goal, and survive the war, a part of them still dies. They will never be the same person they were before they left for war because what they see, experience and feel will change them no matter how tough they are.
They shall begin to be deployed almost immediately to a specific battle zone, along with both their resources and equipment. They shall be fighting for an aim or set of aims indicated by the government. The armed services exist as servants of the government and may only go into military action when ordered to do so by the government. They are unable to choose when or where they are too serve. The implications of this on the services are far reaching due to the fact there is the ever current risk to the lives of serving soldiers who are in combat or an area of global instability.
To what extent was the US defeat in the Vietnam conflict a result of the difficulties in winning the “hearts and minds” of the Vietnamese people? To establish the significance of the failure of America’s attempt to win over the “hearts and minds” of the Vietnamese people, one must look at the other reasons behind the US defeat and compare their significance to the significance of their failure. The first and probably the most significant event was the way in which the war was fought. The Viet Cong were a guerrilla army which used guerrilla tactics, they used the jungle to their advantage and their main tactic was being secretive; they would attack the US camps then disappear. Finding the Viet Cong was very difficult, not only due to their impressive tunnel system, but also the fact that most of the local population supported the Viet Cong due to opposition to Diem’s government and the strategic hamlets they were forced into, it made It impossible for the American soldiers to know who was a Viet Cong member and who was an ordinary villager.
First, there are the obvious strategic and tactical similarities. American troops are now fighting a guerrilla war in Iraq. Urban warfare has become the norm with insurgents staying close to U.S. troops, often engaging civilians to support or shield their operations. As a result, the uncertain battleground of Iraq poses enormous challenges for American soldiers, seeking to separate combatants from civilians without alienating most Iraqis. We face in Iraq, like we did in Vietnam, an enemy who refuses to play by our rules and is clearly willing to die for his beliefs.
The people who live between here and Philippi are loyal to us only because we force them to be. We made them contribute to our efforts against their will. The enemy, marching past them, will add them to its numbers, then come at us refreshed, newly reinforced, and full of courage. Thus we must cut him off from this advantage. If we meet him at Philippi, these people will be at our backs.
This was firstly by very strict military discipline. Strictness and harsh punishments provided a deterrent to deserters and those who gave up and it created a sense of unity of fighting for one cause among the troops. This view is supported by Trotsky’s orders to the Red Army (Source D) in which he says that “Every scoundrel who incites anyone to retreat, to desert, or not to fulfil a military order, will be shot”. These harsh disciplinary techniques were used, in Trotsky’s knowledge, to boost soldiers’ morale and their will of fighting as he knew that if he lost this war, the Revolution would break up and communism would end in Russia for good. Also Trotsky selected the army carefully.