Casualty Aversion: The New Principle of War

Abstract

Abstract : Casualty aversion has progressively come to play a major role in influencing the conduct and outcome of recent US military interventions starting with the rapid US withdrawal from Somalia, the decision to not intervene in the Rwanda genocide, and the military's reluctance in conducting the peacekeeping mission in Bosnia. Kosovo became the epitome of a war. The consequences generated by the casualty averse policies and rules of engagement in Kosovo were significant and will have far reaching implications. The civilian and military leaders' aversion to casualties, if allowed to continue and proliferate, will seriously impact the viability of the US's foreign policy and have major implications on the planning and conduct of future joint military operations. While there may be some positive outcomes that casualty aversion may create, most of the implications will be detrimental to the achievement of military effectiveness in future interventions.