Well my understanding of the focus on the population, as opposed to the threat is that you are seeking the popular legitimacy, as being your primary enabler to exercise the actions of the government. People talk about not "out fighting" but "out governing."

In Sierra Leone, if you supported the Government, the insurgents just came and killed you. Same in Algeria. Same in Cambodia.
Isn't that where the whole "separating the population from the insurgents" and "focus on securing the population" comes in? The idea is not to go in without weapons, but rather to use those to protect the population from insurgent attacks rather than attacking the insurgents amongst the population, no?

From my understanding, improving government services comes after the population has been separated from the insurgents, in order to remove the root causes of the insurgency and cut it off from its political base.