Threat or Opportunity: non-violent protest?

[Bob's World]

It works also against democratic governments. LBJ gave up the idea of running again for presidency because of the anti-war protest movement et cetera.

Actually, he didn't run because of the heat he was taking for his stance in support of civil rights.

He took heat for Vietnam (Colonial Intervention), sure. But he had to give up on running for a second term due to the heat he was taking from both sides of the aisle for his true counterinsurgency efforts in passing three landmark civil rights bills to quell the growing insurgency at home.

Violence or non-violence are a tactical choice. They do not define the nature of the operation. If the nature is illegal challenge to government for political purpose, it is insurgency. The fact that our doctrine is so heavily derived from the experience of colonial powers in their efforts to suppress popular challenges to the puppet regimes they established, and to their own presence and control, shapes our thinking. Also the fact that this doctrine is written by the military, as these situations do tend to go violent at some point and are typically tossed to the military to resolve.

This is a major flaw, the major flaw, in FM 3-24. It declares right up front that COIN and insurgency are complex forms of warfare, and in fact, it is neither complex, nor warfare.