Quote Originally Posted by M-A Lagrange View Post
The Sudan exemple is at contrary the perfect illustration of what you preach:
Well I hope I do not "preach." It does seem I have to repeat myself a lot because people do not seem to want to understand that killing is the primary instrument of warfare
If we extend that to the COIN theory and shift of battle field from politic to governance... The results may be fuzzy if you do not sustain you efforts defined at political level: adress people legitimate demands to win the battle of governance and build trust among the people on the government legitimacy.
a.) COIN Theory is a pseudo-science, composing a collection of very wholly concepts, that essentially fails to understand the enduring nature of war, and its relationship with politics based on fear, honour and interest.

b.) Rebels use "killing" to set forth a policy - NOTHING TO DO WITH GOVERNANCE, JUSTICE OR LEGITIMACY. It is killing for political gain.
The Government use force against the rebels is stop them gaining their political objective via violence.

We have to get over the "Oprah Winfrey" "Rebels have a Legitimate cause," crap. Rebels want political power and they want to use violence to get it.
When I was in Algeria in the mid-90's the GIA did not have a legitimate cause.
When I was in Sierra Leone, the RUF did not have a legitimate cause.
When I was in Thailand, the Rebels in the South did not have a legitimate cause.
Additionally, if you do have legitimate cause, the government should kill you, if you try to advance your cause via violence.