2014 Gaza Conflict Task Force in Defense News
Hybrid Threats Pose New Challenge
By Lt. Gen. William Caldwell, USA (Ret.)
The US military must be prepared to confront hybrid threats, best defined as non-state entities equipped with advanced weapons normally associated with conventional militaries. These non-state entities routinely co-locate command centers and other military targets in urban environments and deliberately endanger civilians to generate sympathy and support within the international community.
Hybrid Threats Pose New Challenge
By Lt. Gen. William Caldwell, USA (Ret.)
The US military must be prepared to confront hybrid threats, best defined as non-state entities equipped with advanced weapons normally associated with conventional militaries. These non-state entities routinely co-locate command centers and other military targets in urban environments and deliberately endanger civilians to generate sympathy and support within the international community.
The goal of such hybrid entities is clear: Neutralize the overwhelming conventional military advantage of US military forces by exploiting civilian casualties and distorting the rules regulating armed conflict.
This scenario represents the new face of conflict in the 21st century, and the US must implement a comprehensive solution.
Both our morality and the Law of Armed Conflict (LOAC) demand the United States exercise restraint to avoid unnecessary civilian casualties. But US decision-makers must decide how far restraint extends. Recently, I participated in a task force with retired senior US military officers, commissioned by the Jewish Institute of National Security Affairs (JINSA), to analyze the 2014 Gaza conflict between Israel and Hamas. While issues of civilians in war zones have existed for millennia, this conflict stood out as an iconic example of the emerging face of wars against hybrid entities.