I bet every single one of PDFer support torturing the enemy to pull out secret information, and our respective countries do that as well, probably on a daily basis, it's extremely stupid to single out Israelis, however intentional attack on civilians is no way acceptable
That's a big assumption. Please speak for yourself only
British Army formally surrenders to the American Continental Army at Yorktown.
Nope. They were a uniformed army, fighting by the codes and conventions of war, recognized as such by foreign powers, the British included. It is not simply what they
wear, it is their conduct and status.
State militia's are one thing.
During colonial America, all able-bodied men of certain ages were eligible for the militia. Individual towns formed local independent militias for their own defense. The year before the US Constitution was ratified,
The Federalist Papers detailed the founders' vision of the militia. The new Constitution empowered Congress to regulate this national military force, leaving significant control in the hands of each State government
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milit...can_Revolutionary_War_.281775.E2.80.931783.29
Minutemen were
civilian colonists who independently organized to form well-prepared militia companies
self-trained in weaponry, tactics, and military strategies from the American colonial partisan militia during the American Revolutionary War. They were also known for being ready at a minute's notice, hence the name. The minutemen were among the first to fight in the American Revolution. Their teams constituted about a quarter of the entire militia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minutemen
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minutemen#American_Revolutionary_War_period
Regulars, irregulars and militia: The American revolution
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09592319508423106?journalCode=fswi20
George Washington's Commandos: Special Ops During the American Revolution
http://nationalinterest.org/feature...mmandos-special-ops-during-the-american-11572
The Dutch-American Guerrillas of the American Revolution
http://www.independent.org/publications/article.asp?id=1489
Irregular military is any non-standard military, that is, distinct from that of the regular army. Being defined by exclusion, there is significant variance in what comes under the term. It can refer to the type of military organization, or to the type of tactics used.
An irregular military organization is one which is not part of the regular army organization. Without standard military unit organization, various more general names are often used; such organizations may be called a "troop", "group", "unit", "column", "band", or "force".
Irregulars are soldiers or warriors that are members of these organizations, or are members of special military units that employ irregular military tactics. This also applies to irregular troops, irregular infantry and irregular cavalry.
Irregular warfare is warfare employing the tactics commonly used by irregular military organizations. This involves avoiding large-scale combat, and focusing on small, stealthy, hit and run engagements.
The Third Geneva Convention of 1949, uses "regular armed forces" as a critical distinction. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a non-governmental organization primarily responsible for, and most closely associated with, the drafting and successful completion of the Third Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War ("GPW"). The ICRC provided commentary saying that "regular armed forces" satisfy four Hague Conventions (1899 and 1907) (Hague IV) conditions.
In other words, "regular forces" must satisfy the following criteria:
- being commanded by a person responsible for his subordinates to a party of conflict
- having a fixed distinctive emblem recognizable at a distance
- carrying arms openly
- conducting operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war
By extension, combat forces that do not satisfy these criteria are termed "irregular forces".
Other names for irregular military formations
Auxiliaries - foreign or allied troops supplementing the regular army, organized from provincial or tribal regions.
Revolutionary — someone part of a
revolution, whether military or not
Guerrilla — someone who uses unconventional military tactics, tends to refer to groups engaged in open conflict rather than
underground resistance.
Militia — military force composed of ordinary citizens.
Terrorist — irregular military who target
civilians and other
non-combatants in order to gain political leverage; this term is almost always used pejoratively, and is, like the term freedom fighter, very subjective.
Freedom fighter — type of irregular military which the main cause, in their or their supporters' view, is freedom for themselves or others.
Insurgent — an alternate term for a member of an irregular military. Tends to refer to members of underground groups such as the
Iraqi Insurgency rather than larger rebel organizations such as the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irregular_military
