If we do not win their support in the process we cannot win .The question of how best to meld military with civilian tools—"the comprehensive approach", as many call it occupies the minds of strategists on both sides of the Atlantic.
The United States should provide additional resources for reconstruction and economic development initiatives, along with other civilian tools that will be more effective in bringing about long-term peace and stability.
Foreign demand for advanced machinery is huge; exports of civilian aircraft, drilling tools, telecommunications equipment, agricultural machinery and excavators all rose at double-digit rates in 2007.
The use of fully autonomous weapons also raised questions of accountability, which would erode another established tool for civilian protection, HRW said.
In a country where politicians have competed with military generals for power, patronage is also a prominent tool of civilian influence.
This paper calls into question the extent to which the media plays a role in promoting and sustaining armed conflict, and even whether or how the media can be a tool for civilian check on military action or complicit in ongoing warfare [ 8].
The strikes are also the latest reminder of how far NATO has stretched its United Nations mandate to protect civilians, removing a purely political tool that only directly threatened civilians perhaps by boring them.
Night vision equipment is a useful tool for civilians, advocates say.
Many informants have their own agendas: militants use civilian deaths as a recruiting tool, and Pakistani officials rally public opinion against the drones as a violation of Pakistani sovereignty.
In May, White House counter-terrorism advisor John Brennan defended the targeted killings of al-Qa'ida suspects as effective tool to minimise civilian casualties, likening the use of drones to laser surgery eliminating "the cancerous tumour called an al-Qa'ida terrorist".
