Garlasco said the ongoing anti-occupation insurgency has prolonged the challenge of minimizing civilian casualties.
"The US military makes a good faith effort," he said. "But the problem is you're asking soldiers and Marines to do a job that's not part of their mandate. It's not easy to flip from being a killer to a peacekeeper."
David Phillips, a conflict-prevention specialist with the Council on Foreign Relations, said Iraq provided a vivid example of how military missions have evolved.
"The Powell doctrine always was the use of overwhelming force, annihilating the adversary," Phillips said. "But now we have to think about nation-building and transforming adversarial forces into peacekeeping partners."
The US military's historical record regarding the rules of war is generally considered good, albeit marred by horrific atrocities such as the My Lai massacre in Vietnam. Phillips noted that German troops at the close of World War II sought to surrender to US soldiers in expectation of better treatment than they would get from the Russians.
"It's imperative -- particularly right now, after Sept. 11 -- that we don't just win the battle itself," Phillips said.
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