Military Uses
A distinction needs to be made between the destruction of houses as an incidental effect of military necessity, the wanton destruction of houses during a military advance, and the deliberate targeting of houses during a military occupation. In the former case, it is commonplace for civilian homes to be used by armed forces as places of shelter or as firing positions. As a result, civilian dwellings become a legitimate military target and property damage is often inevitable as forces seek to expel their opponents from buildings. This can result in the destruction of houses on a massive scale as a side-effect of urban warfare. Following World War II, for instance, the United States occupation authorities in Germany found that 81 percent of all houses in the American Zone had been destroyed or damaged in the fighting.
The question of under what circumstances the destruction of civilian dwellings becomes a legitimate military tactic remains controversial, and recent international conventions have agreed that civilian houses, dwellings, and installations shall not be made the object of attack, except if they are used mainly in support of the military effort.
However, there are also many non-combat situations in which house demolition has been used. It has served a variety of purposes, depending on the nature and context of the conflict.
Read more about this topic: House Demolition, Uses
Other articles related to "military uses, military":
... This principle was, however, widely recognized well before it was encapsulated in Mao's famous dictum ... William the Conqueror's Harrying of the North in 1069–1070, during which his Norman troops systematically laid waste to the rebellious north of England, can be considered an early example of the use of house demolition to deprive an enemy of civilian support ...
... group armies that comprise the Nanjing Military Region responsible for the defense of China's eastern coast and possible military engagement with Taiwan ...
... The OSCE takes a comprehensive approach to the politico-military dimension of security, which includes a number of commitments by participating ... The organization also seeks to enhance military security by promoting greater openness, transparency and co-operation ...
... addition, there are 300,000 former service personnel who have had military service in the last 15 years ... its armed forces and to train its military with Turkey's assistance ... the last 15 years, Azerbaijan has been preparing its military for possible action against Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh ...
... In December 2009 an agreement on military assistance was signed by Turkey and Azerbaijan ... Ankara’s supplying Azerbaijan with weapons, military equipment and, if necessary, soldiers in case war with Armenia over Karabakh resumes ... (jeeps, trucks, etc.) professional training, military organization, technology transfer, licenced military hardware production and other services ...
Famous quotes containing the word military:
“I really do inhabit a system in which words are capable of shaking the entire structure of government, where words can prove mightier than ten military divisions.”
—Václav Havel (b. 1936)
“His ugliness was the stuff of legend. In an age of affordable beauty, there was something heraldic about his lack of it. The antique arm whined as he reached for another mug. It was a Russian military prosthesis, a seven-function force-feedback manipulator, cased in grubby pink plastic.”
—William Gibson (b. 1948)