have missed what the key take-away of the article was ... that security is the name of the game that trumps all others ... killing, aid etc etc.

I have served with the author and have heard his views more than a few times . I can assure you that Justin Kelly is not at all into simplistic / reductionist positions such as those that have been characterised in the thread.

The final observation that I would make is with the respect to the journal that the article was published in. Quadrant might farily be regarded as Australia's journal of the conservative right. It would be bloddy amazing if they published any article advocating 'warm and fluffy' approaches to insurgency conflict (or anything else for that matter). I suspect that the average Quadrant reader might regard Dick Cheney as being a tad too liberal....

Regards,

Mark