Short comparison paper I wrote for a class.

The Accidental Guerilla by David Kilcullen provides a review of modern counter - insurgency operations. Whereas the examples provided by Mr. Kilcullen confine counterinsurgencies to modern phenomena, the Ancient Romans were waging successful COIN operations two thousand years before Petraeus or Kilcullen. Josephus documented one such Roman campaign in his history, Wars of the Jews. Josephus provides an account similar to the situations in Iraq and Afghanistan where the combatants range from religious extremists to those merely trying to exist. Many in modern Iraq and ancient Judea are "accidentally" brought into the fight against the mightiest military powers of their times. One striking similarity is the United States adventure in Iraq and the ancient Jews revolt against the Romans and can serve as an ancient example of the accidental guerrilla syndrome.

Mr. Kilcullen points out that the best way to conduct COIN operations is to not get involved in them. Both the war in Iraq and the war against the Jews were avoidable. In Iraq, Mr. Kilcullen purports that the national security of the United States was not directly threatened by the actions of Sadam Hussein’s regime. He further explains that protracted, costly, conflicts support the extremists overall strategy for global jihad. The Romans, through questionable or ‘bad" governance directly provoked the Jews through insensitivities to Jewish religious law and customs. In Iraq, after Sadam was toppled, the Coalition certainly displayed bad governance in the form of gross misunderstanding of the complex relationships and overlapping authorities of state government, religious institutions and ancient tribal law. Ancient Judea had similar qualities in that Rome oversaw the province, but each city state maintained some autonomy and the temple exerted its influence over the population as well.

How does the accidental guerrilla syndrome apply the siege of Jerusalem? The Roman’s ruled over Judea in relative harmony until various instances of "Bad Governance" turned the Jewish nation against them. Josephus attributes this mainly to Roman insensitivities to Jewish Religious law and corruption under the Rule of the procurator Florus. With the Jewish uprising and subsequent (mysterious) defeat of the Roman General Cestius Gallus, the whole of Judea seems to have descended into chaos. The power vacuum that occurred with the departure of Roman governance lead to Infection by revolutionaries and religious zealots throughout Judea. In Contagion, the revolutionaries or, zealots, spread their ideology and tried to assimilate themselves into the population where they assumed positions of civil, military and religious authority. This Contagion was not absolute, as the moderate population foresaw the coming Roman response and sought peaceful resolution with the Roman authorities, but are somewhat contained by the emboldened factions. Then in the Intervention, the Romans responded by sending the outcast general Vespasian and his son Titus to quell the rebellion. Contrary to the accidental guerilla syndrome, the population, enabled by the power vacuum, and faced with absolute destruction, turned to infighting and civil war to settle old grievances and position their factions for power. The religious zealots performed as many (if not more) blasphemies against the Temple and religious law than the Romans. Ultimately, the guilt of association brought hardships on the entire population of the city, so in a sense the entire city suffers whether the inhabitants are zealots or accidental guerrillas. Then Rejection, the infighting between the moderate forces and zealots ended as they united to face the final Roman advance. The unification was not sufficient to resist the Roman onslaught and victory appeared to be absolute with resistance confined to remote outposts such as Masada. Josephus seems to indicate that the Romans became the instrument through which the punishment of God is delivered to the Jews for their own sins. Finally, the Romans prevail through persistence, brutality, clemency and efficiency.
Whereas the Romans were victorious in their counterinsurgency, Mr. Kilcullen’s book deals in modern reality. The modern combatants wage war via the internet and cable news media as much as they do on the battle field. World Opinion would not tolerate a military power like that of Rome, a superpower that ruthlessly obliterates opposition.