Steve The Planner Not sure if we agree, but in rough order>

a.) Yes, I want to kill bad guys and not the good guys. The discriminator is their actions. Their armed opposition to your policy.
b.) No contractors, and certainly not western ones. At best as few as possible, because there may be some requirements for them, for logistics.
c.) If there was not a problem, the Army would not be there. You do not deploy until you have a mission. You should not deploy in the hope of finding one. It isn't complex.
d.) Absolutely use indigenous and local assets and resources, across the board. Absolutely invest in your allies.

All this does require wisdom and skill. Building schools, conducting social work, and "Nation building" are not things that win wars. They are things you do once the war is won and it is done by folks that are not soldiers.

....but you can conduct some activity to alleviate suffering, and gain allies, but it has to be selective and it has to have a military purpose, so you do if for mutual benefit. You do not go around handing out rice that the locals will give to the bad guys.

This stuff really is Warfare 101. Nothing original or insightful.