 The use of the military by the politicians to police areas seen as bases for these guerrillas leads to them becoming targets themselves which eventually undermines the support of the populace from whom they come and whose values they represent.Parties to conflict which see themselves as vastly or temporarily inferior may adopt a strategy of "hunkering down" - witness Iraq in 1991
or Yugoslavia in 1999.The primary effect of insurgent elements upon conventional force strategy is realized in the twofold exploitation of the inherent violence of military operations.