Search:

That IS the exam question!
Fear, honour, interest. Thucydides said it best! Wars are caused by politics and strategy requires a policy and strategy can only be realised in tactics.

Which is why I try not to use the word "Insurgency" and thus not "COIN" either. Both terms miss the point.

Firstly, please feel free to call me Wilf. Everyone else does, and secondly we're not...

"Shell Shock" was not PTSD. It was "Battle Shock." The estimates of PTSD for Bomber Command 1943-45 have been estimated to 80% by some who look after the veterans. That is 80% of men have some sort...

Why? None of those things will actually negate any advantage. All of those things are why you have military intelligence.
What area(size) of ground do you think anyone actually knows "well enough"...

Well what armed force did is Sierra Leone was get several armed irregular groups to cease fighting because they were either all dead, run away or wanted to give up.
Calling Sierra Leone "an...

No. It's a logical construct. You can only use armed force to set forth or resist a policy that seeks to do the same.
Military force is limited to military problems.

What British Armed force did...

And now JMA turns into one of the "New-COIN" boys??

An armed rebellion is a 90% a military problem! = Armed force needs to be countered by armed force. If you don't defeat the men with guns, you...

It's got a bad name because "COIN" is now a pseudo-science.

Your opinion. That's not really a basis for discussion. What evidence are you showing that effectiveness increases given a 1 year tour...

Is this what this thread is about?

Says who? As long as the G2 effort is coherent, I can see no evidence that giving people 18+ month tours would increase unit effectiveness.

Not popular with...

I think Major Few nailed it!!

Yes, the study of war and warfare is mostly woeful. In the English language this lies at the door or people such as Fuller and Liddell-Hart, and good many others who are still revered due to lack of...

War is war. There are varying types of warfare, but defeating an irregular enemy is rooted in some fairly well understood methods of applying military force. What we see with "counterinsurgency...

OK, I'm starting this because otherwise it'll die in the Blog.

Counterinsurgency and Its Discontents

IMO, this article is attempting to try and forgive how "COIN" has been turned into a...

It's not a uniquely American problem. :eek:

No. In terms of the Colonies functioning as colonies, the French, British, Belgian, Italian, and Germans, were the Governments. The men running India, were British, not Indian. The Government of...

I agree a 100%, but in both Iraq and A'Stan the US/NATO is suppressing armed rebellions in support of Government they put in place.

If Laleh is going to quote Gwynn, then reading the WHOLE BOOK will help.


and,


Gwynn was a sound thinker, and not part of the "Oprah Winfrey Way of War." I have the 1934 Edition.
...

That is precisely my point. You need to train for that from the word go. You cannot just dump it on the boys at the last minute, and hope they'll muddle through (well you can, but why do that?). You...

Concur. No policy, no strategy. No Strategy, no military force.

I'm not sure I agree. You can prepare Soldiers to fight almost any type of irregular on the planet and lack a specific policy. Policy is really only relevant to ROE, as it is the violent expression...

I absolutely agree. ROE are actually just a form "operationalised" guidance for "rules" that should already be in place. It needs to be taught from Basic training onwards, but very rarely, if ever,...

ROE are to ensure that the policy is not damaged by un-restricted violence. Good ROE are written with that in mind. Bad ROE just say "thou shalt not." Good ROE say, "Do not if..." - thus judgement...

..and once it has been developed has to be set forth. If that policy is violently opposed you have the choice to change it. That always has additional implications.
I am very well aware of what...

Concur. This was the case under "police primacy." The Army provided an environment in which the Police arrested and imprisoned terrorists. The reason Police primacy could work was that the Army...

You'll need to explain that because ROE are almost always a military requirement, to ensure that violence is applied in line with policy.
Good ROE make violence more useful, not less.