All true Mike, but I think this is why CvC includes the secondary regulating principles. So in understanding the casual effect of politics on policy and violence we need to take account of the relationship between the government, people and military before and during the various phases of a war. To understand the political climate before and during conflict CvC provides a form of measurement via the secondary pricinples.
So, we ask who is in control of power (politics) that will be in a position to influence policy and the level and intesity of violence, is it the military, the people or the government? And, how does who is in control of power (politics) effect the policy/politics/level and intensity of violence in the various phases of war.
Specifically, when CvC is looking at secondary regulating principles of politics my reading of it is that he is looking at the power relationship between the people, the government and military. Who holds the power to determine the policy of the political group as a whole, and how does this effect the level and intensity of violence in the various phases of a war.
The primary and secondary regulating principles are the basic framework from which you can identify the centre of gravity in a war. It is useful in understanding how dynamic the centre of gravity is, and can be, and why there can be a variation in the level and intensity of violence during a war. For example, you can use the regulating pricinples to understand how A'Q/UBL go about planning for attacks in different regions of the world. The countries they are operating in all have very different centres of gravity, the regulating principles are different for both violence and politics, and they need to plan operations accordingly otherwise they run the risk of creating an Anbar Awakening.
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