Quote Originally Posted by MikeF View Post
As some of the lessons of Colombia show us, maybe we should start increasing our efforts to assist and advice towards mentoring police and judicial reform instead of further strengthening the military apparatus.
Not speaking of Colombia specifically, as I don't know much about it, but...

In many areas police and judicial reform can provide an effective tool against early stage or lower intensity insurgency, and can also address some of the root causes of insurgency. Unfortunately, in many insurgency-plagued areas local elites see control of the police and judiciary, and the ability to use those institutions for personal gain, as essential to maintaining their own control. In these cases governing elites may not openly oppose efforts at reform, especially if those efforts are a condition for external support, but they are likely to derail and dilute reforms as much as they can.

This underscores a key problem in assisting COIN efforts in other countries. In many cases the governing elites oppose insurgency because it threatens their personal position, power, and prerogatives. If our proposed solution to the insurgency problem also threatens their personal position, power, and prerogatives, that solution is from their perspective completely pointless, and while they may make a show of going along with our ideas, they will be pursuing their own agendas with a lot more vigor at the same time.