The overlooked, underrated, and forgotten ...

[relative autonomy]

Also the so-called "Indian Wars" of US history

Pequot War (1635-1637)
King William's War (1689–1697)
Queen Anne's War (1702–1713)
Chickamauga Wars (1776–1794)
NW Ordinance War (1787-1795)
Sullivan's Expedition (1779)
"Tecumseh's Wars"
a. First Creek War (1813-1814),
b.First Seminole War (1818-1819)
Black Hawk War of (1832
Second Creek War (1836)
Second Seminole War (1835–1842)
The Cherokee War (1838-1839)
Great Raid of 1840
Antelope Hills Expedition (1858)
Red River War (1874–1875)
Puget Sound War (1855–1856)
Dakota War of 1862 (1862)
Colorado War (1863–1865)
Red Cloud's War (1866–1868)
Comanche Campaign (1868–1874)
Black Hills War (1876–1877)
Nez Perce War (1877)
Pine Ridge Campaign (1890)

I think these wars are especially important for Americans to consider today. If the begining of the UK and France's COIN experience was in their colonial, then the American equivalent for Americans in, frankly, the conquest of the Native of American tribes. 26 of 30 US Generals who served in the Philippines between 1898 and 1902 served in the final "Indian Wars."

John Nagl, in Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife, talks about how the US fought some many for these wars but American generals, wanting to feel like equals to European Generals, still emphasized standard main force tactics and didn't really codify much in the way of any foundational and uniquely American COIN doctrines. Still the histories of these wars are interesting and overlooked.

[Steve Blair]

I think these wars are especially important for Americans to consider today. If the begining of the UK and France's COIN experience was in their colonial, then the American equivalent for Americans in, frankly, the conquest of the Native of American tribes. 26 of 30 US Generals who served in the Philippines between 1898 and 1902 served in the final "Indian Wars."

John Nagl, in Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife, talks about how the US fought some many for these wars but American generals, wanting to feel like equals to European Generals, still emphasized standard main force tactics and didn't really codify much in the way of any foundational and uniquely American COIN doctrines. Still the histories of these wars are interesting and overlooked.

I quite agree, in particular with respect to the postwar Indian campaigns. It's interesting to look at the differences between campaigns before and after the Civil War...especially in terms of how much needed to be relearned.

[Griz882]

Thank you realtive autonomy! I have long argued that the so-called "Indian Wars" offer excellent case studies to better understand what the US and her allies face today in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere.

[Rex Brynen]

Thank you realtive autonomy! I have long argued that the so-called "Indian Wars" offer excellent case studies to better understand what the US and her allies face today in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere.

...from the point of view of most aboriginal populations, the "Indian Wars" were all about brutal foreign (white) conquest, forced displacement, and even a little ethnic cleansing of the local population.

I don't doubt there are operational and strategic lessons to be learned, but lets be a little careful about understanding it as a COIN model

[Cannoneer No. 4]

...from the point of view of most aboriginal populations, the "Indian Wars" were all about brutal foreign (white) conquest, forced displacement, and even a little ethnic cleansing of the local population.

I doubt doubt there are operational and strategic lessons to be learned, but lets be a little careful about understanding it as a COIN model

Anybody remember this guy?

[tequila]

Steve Blair should be along in a few moments to deconstruct the Crook myth.

I'll tell you a major difference between the Pashtun and the Apache - there are millions of Pashtun and they are not just marginalized, uneducated tribal warriors in the FATA and the tribal areas.

[marct]

I'll tell you a major difference between the Pashtun and the Apache - there are millions of Pashtun and they are not just marginalized, uneducated tribal warriors in the FATA and the tribal areas.

Add in their strategic position and the fact that everyone with an interest in the area has tossed technology at them, which hey have integrated and made their own, a 2500+ year history, and a feuding tradition that makes the Scots of old look like a bunch of pacifists....

I suspect that there are really only two Indian wars that come even close: the ongoing alliances fights with the Iroquois Confederacy, and the fights with the Cherokee (and allies). Even then, you have to consider the relative demographic pressures.

[relative autonomy]

...from the point of view of most aboriginal populations, the "Indian Wars" were all about brutal foreign (white) conquest, forced displacement, and even a little ethnic cleansing of the local population.

I don't doubt there are operational and strategic lessons to be learned, but lets be a little careful about understanding it as a COIN model

i think its is important to note that many people view counterinsurgency warfare as a liberal gloss over the tactics of brutal colonialism colonial conquest and, historically, it isn't incorrect. taking Vietnam as an example, you can trace the development of counterinsurgency doctrines used to pacify the country from the "collective punishment" of colonial France to "the oils spot doctrine" of the first Indochina war to the increasing scientifically managed COIN doctrines of anti-colonial liberal Americans whether it be Kennedy and Lansdale or Johnson and Robert Komer. The genesis of counterinsurgency warfare lies in battles to secure colonial domination and there is really no way of getting around that. i think the most interesting question, then, becomes can COIN transcend that or destined to reproduce so colonial logic?

also, interesting debate on civil war....

[davidbfpo]

In 2007 Rex Brynen commented:

How has Mozambique sustained democracy since 1992, despite having experienced bitter anti-colonial (1962-75) and civil (1975-92) war that left left almost a million people dead through its direct and indirect consequences?

Six years later this question has become pertinent sadly:

Suspected Renamo guerrillas killed seven Mozambican soldiers in an ambush on Thursday near the former rebel group's remote mountain hideout, local media said, the latest flare-up in a simmering insurgency.....Analysts say this year's attacks are a reaction to it being pushed into political and economic obscurity by Frelimo, which is expected to dominate municipal elections due next month and nationwide elections in just over a year.

Link:http://mobile.reuters.com/article/id...31017?irpc=932

Mozambique rarely gets attention from the MSM.