ASYMMETRIC WARFARE - THE SIEGE OF FALLUJAH Csér Orsolya Abstract: Asymmetric warfare is a tactical process based on policy objectives which can be used to force our will upon the enemy. The non-traditional, inexpensive actions involving material damage and human casualties (such as terrorism, deployment of weapons of mass destruction, threat of using them, information warfare); guerrilla- and partisan-type raids implemented with simple tools and techniques are considered its basic advantages. All these are usually the weapons of the party fighting in the occupied territories (eg. bombings, suicide attacks, actions against logistics, command posts, attacks against officers, command staff, destruction of supply routes and transportation routes). The detection of these weapons and the psychological preparation of the soldiers is very difficult, because the offenders do not comply with the conventions of warfare. The siege of Fallujah in Iraq, which wrote itself into the history books as one of the most infamous and serious insurgencies and in which the media and propaganda played a major role, is regarded as an example of asymmetric warfare. Keywords: asymmetry, insurgency, guerrilla, civilians, civilian victim, propaganda, military gain 1. Introduction Asymmetry doesn't mean anything other than the lack of symmetry between the belligerents, partially or wholly. Asymmetric warfare is: "A warfare for the sake of precisely outlined political aims, often based on ideological, religious, ethnic community of several organizations, implementing military and non-military operations, tactics and techniques building upon direct and indirect effects and intensifying each other's effects, endangering different dimensions of security, mainly tactical procedures, with whose effect altogether we may force our will upon the enemy." All of this is such an activity that can be connected to asymmetric challenges, when the executors - in most cases not even sparing their own lives - execute military actions, and is usually done against a belligerent on a higher technological level. Their basic characteristics can be summarised as below: - non-traditional, inexpensive - an action causing material damage and human casualties (for example terrorism, deployment of weapons of mass destruction, threat of using these, information warfare); - guerrilla, partisan type raids, carried out with simple tools and techniques; - Usually these are the weapons of the party fighting in the occupied territories (e.g. bombings, suicide attacks, actions against logistics, command posts, attacks against officers, command staff, destruction of supply routes, transportation routes); - The detection of these weapons and the psychological preparation of the soldiers is very difficult, because the offenders do not comply with the conventions of warfare. 60 2. Guerrilla warfare culture and asymmetric warfare The guerrilla warfare culture characterises not the state, or the regular belligerents, but in many cases the self-organising ones with poor facilities and logistics, whose aim is to intimidate or overthrow the state or foreign authority considered to be the enemy and rise to power. Guerrilla warfare is characterised by its long-drawn-out, hidden and unpredictable nature. Its primary resource is the local people, whose support is crucial to the success of the guerrilla action. The guerrilla warfare culture practices military defence, while using its information superiority to destroy law enforcement, troops, or the state facilities with strategically offensive operations. In the new paradigm of warfare (4th generation warfare) it is not possible to unequivocally distinguish the periods of war and peace, there is no relatively safe hinterland, there is no front and there is no separate battlefield where the armies encounter. Often, there are no armies either: the belligerents are not state actors, but ethnic, religious militias, criminal organisations, with whom it is difficult (or impossible) to find the necessary compromise to reach a political solution. Methods and behaviour forms that do not comply with the conventions of warfare emerge (for example hostage taking, execution of captives), and methods that previously didn't rate as methods of warfare: legal political activity, agitating the masses, demagogy, taking politics to the streets and rioting, litigation; organised and unorganised crime, terrorism. The battlefield is the population itself – the people on the streets, in the fields, in the buildings – all the people, everywhere, anytime. Battles may happen anywhere - in the presence of civilians, among the civilians, against the civilians and in defence of them, with the voluntary or forced participation of civilians. The civilians equally can be targets, human shields, reachable aims or belligerents, and often it is difficult to decide in a given moment which role they are playing. The nature of the battle has also changed: their aim is propaganda instead of destroying the resources of the enemy. Guerrilla warfare as a warfare method is definitely not a new phenomenon. The history of guerrilla warfare is as old as the history of warfare, and is a method frequently used by the weaker belligerent party. The great, well-organised armies usually look down on guerrilla techniques. It is true that the belligerent party implementing guerrilla techniques often gives the impression of unorganised free corps, at the same time it is a fact that the guerrilla warfare culture is one of the dominant existing, and in many cases surprisingly successful, cultures of warfare appearing in more and more shapes and forms. The belligerent implementing this 4th generation warfare approach is using techniques which belong to the party less well-equipped and in a strategically weaker position. It is important to note that guerrilla warfare is a conscious choice on the part of the belligerent, and does not necessarily mean disadvantage. The party implementing guerrilla warfare often also has that advantage that they may secede from the enemy, fall back and return to the fight at another place and time (under conditions which are much more favourable for them). The belligerent implementing classic guerrilla warfare is carrying out an operational defence, but on a tactical level it is trying to collect strength to reach the requested psychological effect and the final political victory. As a result of the initial disadvantage of resources, the guerrilla army in the first and second phase of the warfare is not able to implement open war and defeat armies organised in a classic way. Examining the characteristics of the warfare culture, two basic factors, the political orientation and the use of violence, must be taken into consideration. Politically orientated activities may include sharing information (propaganda), organising demonstrations, and recruiting activities, training members and infiltrating the current organization, ensuring the support of outside forces, financing activities for the social support of the people, and making strategic plans. 61 The success of guerrilla warfare depends on the support of the people, at the same time the raising and the adequate distribution of the resources has an important role. Related to the organizational structure, two categories can be basically distinguished: the selective system, whose characteristic is that small elite units implement the struggle and the violent attacks; and the mobilization system, whose base is that the leading elite is trying to involve the people in the fight to the highest possible degree. Another significant characteristic of guerrilla warfare culture is the use of violence. Among others this characteristic distinguishes guerrilla war culture from political resistance movements (for example Ghandi's movement in India) or human rights movements. Thus guerrilla movements are equally characterised by both factors (political aspect and use of violence). The two factors (even if occasionally to a different degree) are present in guerrilla warfare culture in all cases, although depending on certain factors (environment, popular support, organizational structure, solidarity, exterior support, reaction of law enforcement organisations) the representatives of the guerrilla warfare culture put different emphasis on politics and use of violence in different situations. Returning to the basic principles of asymmetric warfare, it’s most important military characteristic is that there is an enormous power and asset difference between the belligerents in the conflict. In general, it can be said that the military power of the smaller party is so limited that it cannot attain military victory using only traditional means, but to win the war, guerrilla fighting, sabotage, and terror are needed. Hereby its necessary accompaniment is violating convention, or leaving the norms behind. The final aim is to force the enemy, the occupant - by several military methods - to give up. The more drawn- out an armed conflict like this is, the more probable it is that asymmetric warfare occurs. For victory, the army of the enemy must be defeated, its territory must be occupied, and the will of the nation must be broken (from which in Iraq only the first two materialized!). Asymmetric warfare is ascribed to have serious political character, as war in general. It can be described with the following characteristics: - high level of violence; - the lack of statehood; - the monopoly of violence gets privatised; - the difference between combatants