RTK, If you can talk about it? I read about Talafar and after they constructed a berm around the city they set up check points and screened the population as they were coming out to temporary shelter and then US forces entered to do the final clearing. After that the population was allowed to return. I thought that was a fantastic idea, most people think of check points as screening people coming in to an area, which you should do of course but screening people coming out is like working a crime secen where you seal it off and then interview witnesses as they are leaving, more than one person has been caught this way and at the least you can get alot of leads.

Which leads me to this question. Should we have a new doctrinal term called Separating for COIN ops. Seems to me the tactical objective is often not so much clearing and holding as it is separating the insurgents from innocent population. My 2 cents anyway.