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  1. #29
    Council Member Bob's World's Avatar
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    I highly recommend:

    "1776" by David McCullough.
    Very successful insurgents like Mao and Ho Chi Minh studied this insurgency very closely. This one year snapshot really does a great job of covering the play by play of a government making bad decisions in the face of a dissatisfied populace, and the resultant insurgency. Plus everyone needs to refresh themselves on who we are as Americans, and by studing the errors of our British "parents," we can hopefully break the cycle and not make the same mistakes they did as we find ourselves in very similar situations today.

    Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory & Practice David Galula's

    From theory to strategy to operations to tactics. A guy who gets it does a great job of breaking it down.

    Lastly, unless you are a hardcore academic, I strongly urge you not to attempt to read and understand Clausewitz. This is in no way a criticism of my Prussian friend. To understand insurgency you must first seek to understand fundamental human dynamics, and THEN to understand war. The reasons why states wage war against each other and the dynamics of that are very different than the dynamics of why a populace wages war against its own government. This is one reason why conventional military forces often start off on the wrong foot when tasked to deal with an insurgency. They do what militarys do: Defeat the Threat. So I will respectfully disagree with WILF and COL G. as to "Clausewitz first."

    (By the same token, I would never recommend to a Lieutenant or even a Captain to read Clausewitz either. Read what is relevant to your success at the level you are at. Read classics like "Platoon Leader" and "Company Commander"; hell read "Devils in Baggy Pants" and other great reads on small unit actions and leadership. Then read Galula and think about how you apply those leadership skills to an insurgency).
    Last edited by Jedburgh; 01-29-2009 at 08:54 PM. Reason: Added links.
    Robert C. Jones
    Intellectus Supra Scientia
    (Understanding is more important than Knowledge)

    "The modern COIN mindset is when one arrogantly goes to some foreign land and attempts to make those who live there a lesser version of one's self. The FID mindset is when one humbly goes to some foreign land and seeks first to understand, and then to help in some small way for those who live there to be the best version of their own self." Colonel Robert C. Jones, US Army Special Forces (Retired)

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