The war of liberation means the people of a certain area picking up arms against the authority that they refuse to accept as legitimate. This can take place in three situations:
1) When a country forcibly occupies another country that was internationally recognized as a sovereign state, like the colonialism and German occupation in World War II.
2) When a region was forcibly formed part of a country but the people of that region / territory do not reconcile to the rule since day one, like the Palestinians and Kashmiris struggling for freedom.
3) When a region / territory was a legitimate part of a country, but a period of time the people of that region think that they cannot enjoy their rights unless they get freedom, like Bosnia.
The war of liberation is conducted on the lines similar to that of the Guerrillas War. However, after the attack the fighters do not take refuge in large unpopulated areas, but mingle with ordinary citizens. The ideal place for a liberation war is not the mountains but the large urban centers where it is easier to hide in anonymity. This situation occurs when the enemy has occupied a part or whole of a country (for example, the German occupation of various countries during World War II). The war of liberation is more concerned with a political situation where a state tends to controls another area the people of which do not want or accept such occupation. The area fighting for liberation may either have been internationally recognized as a sovereign region before the start of the conflict, or an area that has been forcefully kept under the state control since long. Typical example is of the areas occupied by the colonial powers.
Sometimes the reference is made to the war bands (the second term of Chi Guevara), referring to revolutionary movements. As a matter of fact the revolution is different because this is a general uprising and of all the people who can then have the support of the armed forces also, (French Revolution or Russian and Iranian Revolutions). A failed revolution can however transform into the war on gangs or a civil war.
A regular army in uniform is hardly in a position to counter the tactics used in such a wars. To adopt this tactics, the insurgents must have the support of general population which does not cooperate with the enemy (the occupation army). Such supportive population then allows the freedom fighters to hide and to ‘move like a fish in the sea’, as expressed by Mao.
War of Liberation for East Timor
If the people of an area are determined, they will surely get the freedom one day. The best remedy for the occupation force is to find a political solution as soon as possible, in order to avoid unnecessary spilling of blood. Because to counter the war of liberation the occupation army must ‘drain the sea’ in the words of Mao, which is easier said than done. Only a small portion of the population is actually involved in the combat-related activities and rest of the population just extends sympathy to the freedom fighters. The shortest way considered by the occupation army is resorting to indiscriminate reprisals as the Germans did in World War II or the colonial powers like French did in Algeria. However such actions grow more hatred in the population against the occupation forces. The recent examples are the struggle of Palestinians and Kashmiris for their freedom. Both the people are not losing their courage and morale despite all out repressive actions by the Israelis and the Indians for the last over six decades.
Another phenomenon in the war of liberation is the use of coercion and torture by the occupation army in order to force people to disclose information they possess. This was done in all cases; the Germans did in World War II, the French in Algeria, the Americans in Vietnam, the Russians did in Afghanistan. The practice continues unabated even today, wherever the forceful occupation is being resisted by the local population.
What about the application of the Geneva Conventions in this scenario? It is difficult to answer but this kind of war has rules of its own. The prospects of winning such a war are complex. Actually the occupation force never admits that it was a war of liberation going on. They always term it as insurgency, terrorism or the miscreants acting on the behest of the enemy of state. The occupation army may, technically speaking, go to any extent to suppress the uprising even the genocide. However the humanitarian and political reasons may pose obstacles to its action, both at home as well as abroad. Victory and defeat is not so much of military as it is of political and ideological significance.
During the colonial period, around 800 colonial revolts were suppressed with force. In Algeria, the French tried to suppress the liberation movement for quite a long time, but in the end with De Gaulle eagerly chosing to play a political role on the world stage, scummed to the demand of the Algerian people. The ultimate result is alawys the freedom for the people who struggle for that. The occupation has to scum to this genuine demand on the domestic and international pressures or due to economic or political reasons, but by then a lot of time is wasted and a large number of lives are lost.lives are lost.
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