Counterinsurgency and Human Nature

[Tom Odom]

Another brain burp, this one inspired by Ralph Peters' new book:

American counterinsurgency doctrine seeks to re-make other societies in our image but fails to understand why our system works. We have not eradicated the aggression of, particularly, young males, but simply found less destructive channels for it--sports, economic competition, the sexual hunt, and combat politics.

Unless we help a culture coming out of armed conflict build these or other equally effective channels for male aggression, the conflict will reemerge or simply mutate into some other form.

A counterinsurgency doctrine which does not incorporate this raw reality is doomed to ineffectiveness.

Strangely enough, this is exactly why I jumped on a chance to get a DC-10 cargo flight of soccer balls for Rwanda. The simple release of playing a game for the children--survivors or killers--offered some moments of sanity in an insane place.

Tom