ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that frequently civilian deaths during war are not just the result of “collateral damage” but are part of a deliberate policy of targeting noncombatant populations. It defines and discusses the term “mass killing” and present several explanations for mass killing during war derived from the literatures on genocide and guerrilla war. The chapter presents the results of statistical analyses to assess these explanations. Mass killing is defined as the intentional killing of a massive number of noncombatants during a war. Victims of mass killing may be members of any kind of group (ethnic, political, religious, etc.) as long as they are noncombatants and as long as their deaths were caused intentionally. A “massive number” is defined as at least 50,000 intentional deaths over the course of five years or less of warfare.
