To fully understand and properly apply proportionality, we need to understand the other three. The other three principles are military necessity, discrimination, and unnecessary suffering. Proportionality is one of four basic principles in the LOW. It is legal and tactically sound to squash the proverbial enemy fly using a sledgehammer in order to accomplish the mission.
Not only is that idea contrary to maneuver warfare, it’s inconsistent with the LOW. Unfortunately, too many Marines, including a few judge advocates, misunderstand and misapply the law of war (LOW) principle called proportionality, mistakenly thinking that proportionality requires the commander to employ no more force than necessary to defeat the enemy and accomplish his mission. For example, we are taught to bypass the enemy strength and strike the enemy weakness-employ our infantry company against the enemy platoon vice company against company so that we quickly and decisively defeat the enemy with overwhelming force. Maneuver warfare is a series of rapid, violent, and unexpected actions that create a turbulent and rapidly deteriorating situation with which the enemy cannot cope.2 Our ultimate goal in maneuver warfare is panic and paralysis-an enemy who has lost the ability to resist.3 The effective warfighter is “ruthlessly opportunistic, actively seeking out signs of weakness against which will direct all available combat power.”4 Contrary to attrition warfare, maneuver warfare concentrates strength against critical enemy vulnerabilities in order to cause the greatest damage to our enemy’s ability to fight.
Ever since Warfighting1 was published in 1989, the concept of maneuver warfare has defined and distinguished the way the Marine Corps fights.
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