I get hit by a sort of cognitive dissonance when seeing pictures out of Syria, some showing people with machine guns fighting in the street, and others showing people shopping or drinking coffee in sidewalk cafes. That’s the nature of modern warfare though I guess. The battlegrounds are usually in the midst of the cities.
What is life like in that situation? Are non-combatants relatively safe to go about their normal daily routines … school, work, shopping, maybe catch a movie … or is everyone cowering in their basements until starvation forces them to make desperate forays for groceries? Are there danger zones and safe zones? How do people know where they are?
That’s the nature of Low Intensity Combat. You don’t have vast armies clashing with each other. When I was in Baghdad my family would get worried every time there was a reported attack. Mostly because news reports would say half the country was part of Baghdad. I would have to put it in perspective like the distance between me and the attack was the same as the distance between New Brunswick and Trenton. I never did tell them when it was actually close. For the most part people went about their business. Most attacks were sectarian and a total surprise. Human adapt quickly. Syria toady is probably like Iraq in 2004. Intense fighting in areas. Life sucks for everyone there. But 10 miles away is a different world.