Citation
Bailliet, Cecilia M. 'War in the Home': An Exposition of Protection Issues Pertaining to the Use of House Raids in Counterinsurgency Operations
. Journal of Military Ethics Vol 6, no. 3 (2007): 173-197. DOI: 10.1080/15027570701565755.
Findings
The author develops a theoretical argument that connects house raids to counterinsurgency success. Specifically, she argues that as long as house raids are not conducted in accordance with humanitarian law, they are likely to undermine the idea of winning the hearts and minds of the population. While house raids may meet a requirement for the necessity to prevent violence, when they violate proportionality, the outcome is negative. Excessive violence that accompanies such raids in the form of screaming at civilians, kicking the doors, pushing, kicking, and rounding the family in a room may not cause physical injury and harm to property but it leads to moral, psychological, and emotional injury such as humiliation. These injuries create perceptions that house raids are excessive and make them illegitimate in the eyes of the people. The author uses the Iraq case to show support for this logic; aggressive tactics in house raids in Iraq created negative perceptions of Coalition counterinsurgency efforts and undermined these efforts by increasing recruitment to the insurgency.
Tags
Lever of Power: Military Lever of Power: Law Enforcement Method: Qualitative Geoscope: Single country UN Region: Western Asia DOD Region: CENTCOM Country: Iraq Actor: State Target: Leadership Target: Member Target: Sympathizers Type: Article Year: 2007
Research Background
- Research questions
- How does the manner in which house raids are conducted affect counterinsurgency success? (inferred)
- Hypotheses
- Limited respect for humanitarian laws in house raids has a negative impact on counterinsurgency success. (inferred)
Variables or Concepts
- Independent variables & concepts
- Restraint in house raids
- Dependent variables & concepts
- Success in COIN
Methodologies
- Qualitative method description
- Author uses secondary sources to analyze various instances of house raids in Iraq to illustrate their aggressiveness and negative impact on civilian population's perception of legitimacy of counterinsurgency.