Madhu:

I don't know where the 'give them money and they will love us enough risk getting their throats cut' idea came from. I always been amazed too when I've read about some armoured truck column going to a village once a week and asking what they need and where is the enemy and how is security and then they wonder why they aren't making any progress with that village. That has never worked. Heck I don't think anybody ever was stupid enough to think it would before the inside the beltway types twisted small war fighting into something Oprah would approve of. It always was about controlling the place first. I think West, Lt. Johnston, Galula and Lyautey would all agree with that. Most of our guys know that and can do it if we let them.

I just finished Galula by Cohen and it was a very good book. He said that Galula didn't really know much about Lyautey and all those guys because of when they came into the army, just at the start of WWII. There wasn't time to teach them. Mr. Galula came up with his ideas mostly from watching the war in China. Cohen said that was a shame because many of his ideas were similar to those of the French who pacified North Africa way back when. Ours isn't the only army that forgets its past I guess.

By Indian Army, I meant the army of the country of India, not the army of the Raj. The Indian Army of today has a huge amount of small war fighting experience.