The Effects of War Casualties on U.S. Public Opinion

Abstract

The experience of the wars in Korea and Vietnam has led many U.S. policymakers and military leaders to believe that the American public cannot tolerate high casualty rates in regional conflicts. Conventional wisdom holds that as casualties mount, public opinion demands a withdrawal of America's commitment. Potential adversaries, such as Saddam Hussein, share this view of the American public's sensitivity to casualties. As the Gulf crisis escalated, the Iraqi leader repeatedly threatened to turn the Kuwaiti desert into a killing field for U.S. soldiers, hoping that fear of casualties would derail American plans for intervention. For him and for U.S. policymakers, the American public's supposed inability to tolerate casualties appears to be an Achilles' heel that can undermine U.S. deterrence strategies and efforts at military intervention.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 1994
Accession Number
ADA283737

Entities

Organizations

  • RAND Corporation

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Casualties
  • Cold War
  • Deterrence
  • Intergovernmental Organizations
  • International Law
  • International Organizations
  • Intervention
  • Korean War
  • Military Operations
  • Nuclear Weapons
  • Public Opinion
  • Second World War
  • United States
  • Vietnam War
  • War

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • Strategic Security Studies