An elusive enemy that uses the noncombatant populace as an effective defense creates, over time, a growing ethical dilemma within the Army between self-preservation and strictly following laws and regulations and causes a cascade of effects. A Soldier works hard every day that he or she is in combat to make sense of the chaos of war. The longer a Soldier is in combat and the more vulnerable he feels brings self-preservation to the forefront of survival. Noncombatant deaths are unavoidable regardless of measures taken to avoid them especially in a counter-insurgency war. Our Soldiers today are better trained and that is evident if compared to the numbers of noncombatants killed in our past counter-insurgency wars. Self-preservation and the protection of our fellow Soldiers will always remain a major if not only driving force for survival.

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