By: Grey Miller 

Department of History, University of Texas at San Antonio

On September 11, 2001, a group of terrorists hijacked commercial aircraft planes and crashed them into the World Trade Center in New York, causing a great upheaval in the United States. The attack resulted in mass casualties of civilians and a change in domestic policies not seen since the Cold War era. The United States proceeded to rectify the situation by enacting war against the enemy. This horrific incident provoked immediate retaliation by Americans and new contemplation on the moral ethics of a just war. In ancient times, governments protective of their civilians sometimes needed to enact war to maintain their republic. A contentious issue, the use of civilians in warfare raises concern pertaining to individuals’ human rights and how revenge as a moral imperative can become easily unjust. Reflections not only to discern who our enemy is, but also to define terrorism as a unique form of warfare.  

Caleb Carr’s The Lessons of Terror: A History of Warfare Against Civilians: Why It Has Always Failed, and Why It Will Fail Again explores the dilemmas associated with civilians in warfare and the tactics used against them. The author takes the reader through battles set in ancient times where Romans and Middle Eastern groups utilize terrorism and civilian casualties to enact religious conquests in the name of Empire, Christianity, and Islam. Carr ponders justification of war thinking through the legal works of Grotius and Vattel, as well as examining the philosophies of great thinkers like Locke, Hobbes, and Voltaire, bringing Britain and France to the center of his attention. Carr then cites examples from the Civil War where military initiatives were often contrary to just war ethos, yet leaders saw opportunities to bend the rules for the sake of a greater moral good. For Carr, this bending of the rules of warfare always backfired, and, in the end, evidence concludes that fear and violence against civilians never functions to achieve peace.  

Carr’s work tries to balance the philosophies that changed battle and helped minimize civilian casualties while citing examples of militaries violating this fundamental way of thinking worldwide. Carr makes two distinct points that lead into the discussion about Augustine of Hippo’s treaty on just war theory. Carr argues that the failure of Rome was the empire’s ability to escalate the use of power without justification. Civilians not participating in warfare felt the effects of these wars, just like soldiers with convictions to win the war. Roman warfare was a struggle for power that may or may not have moral justifications related to that battle. However, the implications of war did not depend solely upon moral justifications.  

To Carr, this type of warfare resulted in eventual defeat one way or another. For the Romans, it was a failure to recognize civilians from soldiers. Their strategy of battle lacking moral safeguards for non-combatant citizens always backfired, as citizens took revenge against the Romans, establishing a moral incentive to crush the enemy. In the case of the Germanic tribes, Carr speculates on whether tales of barbaric warfare provided enough ammunition for the Germans to seek out conquest against the Romans. Regardless, Carr blames the Romans for perpetuating this extreme cruelty. The author argues that the Romans turned to outside sources for help in times of war, seeking barbarians to take over the Rhine. These same soldiers, in turn, later sought revenge against the Romans for their extreme cruelty. A better argument might connect the American Government’s assistance with Afghan troops during the Cold War era of the 1980s. Americans supplied the Afghans with weapons to fight against the invading Russian troops, resulting in continuing wars in the Middle East. A chronological history of warfare does not necessarily help explain more current events clearly, and Carr’s work tends stray from this format, referencing both past and current events interchangeably. Carr has made similar arguments to Chomsky’s discussion on just warfare, providing the example of the United States supplying weapons to Saddam Hussein in the 1980s. Carr conveys that training people for ulterior motives creates the ability for them to become enemies. 

In addition to Carr’s non-fiction work, he is also a popular fiction writer. The Lessons of Terror, although non-academic in structure, captures the attention of both academics and the casual reader who is interested in military history. However, the author uses few examples of non-Western philosophy, predominantly positioning his work with Western Europeans at the forefront of helping to solve the dilemma of civilians in military conflict. This Euro-Centric position does not diminish Carr’s work but limits his use of sources. At times, the author’s parallel to current-day civilian casualties is somewhat confusing. Carr also tries to compare the etymology and linguistic structure of such terms as warrior and terrorist, believing that the terms cannot adapt or change. This argument, at times, contradicts Carr’s position on just warfare. Can Terrorists be fighting for a just or moral cause? Carr’s views on just warfare are complicated if we assume that most nations would not consider themselves terrorists while actively at war. A native New Yorker himself, Carr’s inherent politicization and unbalanced psychology of the events surrounding September 11, along with his tough childhood fraught with abuse, seems to overwhelm the prominent ambiguity of proving Carr’s argument.¹ Carr’s ability as a writer to effectively convey his argument against civilians in combat is not as strong as it could be. However, good works often ask more questions than they provide answers to the reader. Carr’s work does just that, contributing to the moral narratives of war and trying to find the justifications behind terrifying actions. 

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Bibliography 

Foley, Dylan. “Caleb Carr Lives in a Very Dark Place: On Growing Up with the Beats, Living on Mount Misery, and Vanishing Children.” Literary Hub, August 23, 2016. https://lithub.com/caleb-carr-lives-in-a-very-dark-place/.