Colin H. Kahl Quotes
Killing every insurgent is normally impossible … Force must be used with incredible restraint and discrimination and … risks generating popular resentment, creating martyrs that motivated new recruits, and producing cycles of violence.
Colin H. Kahl, Political Scientist & Fellow, Center for a New American Security, “Coin of the Realm”, Foreign Policy, November/December 2007
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See {620373} for a contrary point of view. Arguably, the kind of ruthlessness that would be required to defeat an insurgency with a strictly military approach would require too brutal and barbarous treatment of civilians who may aid insurgents, that Modern Democracies with their open media are incapable of. In the US invasion of Iraq or the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, the total number of civilians killed by the military was tiny, compared to the 20 million Russians killed by the Germans in their attempted invasion of Russia. The entire Gaza war produced only about 1000 civilian deaths out of 1 million people was one tenth of one percent compared with the American civilian casualties at the hands of the British in 1776 was over 100 times greater.
He was out of office when he made this statement.
This was an incredible admission for the man who was supposed to resolve the Middle East Conflict where Terrorism was the major issue. He of course could define terrorism but as a diplomat felt that it would not be diplomatic to call terrorists “terrorists” if one wanted to discourage them from their terrorism. He also believed that since Hamas and other terrorist organizations had popular backing, they should not be labeled as “terrorists”. His position is typical of those that many in the United States, Israel and other modern democracies criticize about the United Nations. They argue that diplomatic niceties and attempted face-saving produces an organization that stands for little and condones evil.
See {620373} for a similar quote. However, there are many who disagree. They point to the Vietnam War as just one counter example. Generally, this tactic has worked for non-democratic nations facing insurgents and terrorists, but has not been very successful for the United States, England, France, Israel and other industrial democracies. These societies have found it difficult to inflict enough terror in the general population to make Luttwak’s tactic effective. The norms and mores of the culture was contrary to the methods that are required, and public opinion forced cessation in the instances where industrial democracies had tried it such as France in Algeria. See {620377}.
Colin Hackett Kahl is an American political adviser and academic who served as the National Security Advisor to the Vice President of the United States. He is currently the Steven C. Házy Senior Fellow at Stanford University. President Joe Biden has nominated him to be the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy.
