This distinction is usually based on whether one is talking about a friend or a foe.
Guerrilla warfare engages MILITARY targets. Terrorists do not discriminate. Furthermore it has always been a long held military doctrine for U.S. forces to only attack military targets. Of course in the case of the atom bombs dropped on Japan, one could argue that this was not so.
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I. IntroductionPrint section
Guerrilla Warfare, military or paramilitary operations conducted in enemy-held territory by irregular forces, often groups indigenous to that territory.
II. Guerrilla TacticsPrint section
Lacking the numerical strength and weapons to oppose a regular army in the field, guerrillas avoid pitched battles. Instead, they operate from bases established in remote and inaccessible terrain, such as forests, mountains, and jungles, and depend on the support of the local inhabitants for recruits, food, shelter, and information. The guerrillas may also receive assistance in the form of arms, medical supplies, and military advisers from their own or allied regular armies.
The tactics of guerrillas are those of harassment. Striking swiftly and unexpectedly, they raid enemy supply depots and installations, ambush patrols and supply convoys, and cut communication lines, hoping thereby to disrupt enemy activities and to capture equipment and supplies for their own use. Because of their mobility, the dispersal of their forces into small groups, and their ability to disappear among the civilian population, guerrillas are extremely difficult to capture. |
