Guerrilla war: From small things...

Guerrilla war n, • an irregular war fought by small bodies of armed men against an established or occupying power (alt spelling: guerilla).

E-CYCLOPEDIA E-cyclopedia is BBC News Online's guide to words behind the headlines US faces Iraq 'guerrilla war'

ORIGIN: a diminutive of the Spanish word "Guerra" meaning "war" - guerrilla means "small war". The word derives from the (Iberian) Peninsula War of 1808-14, after Napolean installed a puppet government in Spain. Ordinary Spaniards showed great tenacity in repelling French forces in what became a war for Spanish independence.

USAGE: most recently applied to Iraq. After a series of attacks on British and US forces, General John Abizaid, the new head of US Central Command, said they face a "classical guerrilla-type war situation".

PRONUNCIATION: similar to "gorilla" but the first syllable should be pronounced to rhyme with "stare".

INCIDENCES: guerrilla tactics have been used in wartime (eg. The Vietnam War 1955-75) and "peacetime" (eg. by the Irish Republican Army against the British government).

OF NOTE: guerrilla wars were particularly hard fought against occupying powers during World War II (eg. in Greece and the Balkans).

OF NOTE II: American "patriots" fought what came to be known as a guerrilla war against the British colonial power in the 18th Century.

ALTERNATIVES: to their supporters guerrilla activists are often known as "freedom fighters", to their opponents, "terrorists".

QUOTE: "The guerrilla fights the war of the flea, and his military enemy suffers the dog's disadvantages: too much to defend; too small, ubiquitous, and agile an enemy to come to grips with." The War of the Flea, Robert Taber.

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