A government can't use tanks, artillery, missiles, bombs, etc. in its own territory without wrecking civilian infrastructure and eroding goodwill from neutral o

A government can't use tanks, artillery, missiles, bombs, etc. in its own territory without wrecking civilian infrastructure and eroding goodwill from neutral or (initially) pro-government civilians. The goal of conquering an area (unless it's purely a natural resource grab) is to put its infrastructure and people to work to boost your economic tax base. That's not so easy to do when you're blowing stuff up and hurting innocent bystanders and scaring everyone. Whenever you look at advanced countries fighting against guerrillas, no matter how many guerrillas die for each government soldier, the war never really seems to get won, and the government bleeds money: it has to feed the war machine (direct capital losses), and it suffers productivity (tax base, GDP) losses when infrastructure is destroyed and productivity declines.