In his book the army and vietnam, andrew krepinevich, jr. In 2009, the obama administration wisely decided to scale back eradication efforts in afghanistan, courageously breaking with 30 years of counternarcotics policies that focused on ineffective forced eradication of illicit crops as a way to reduce the supply of drugs and to bankrupt belligerents. Special operations forces, the afghans, and their fight against the taliban. Counterinsurgency, counternarcotics, and illicit economies. This is a welcome addition to the burgeoning, recent literature on coin and serves as a nice reference. How do we measure counterinsurgency success in afghanistan. Discover delightful childrens books with prime book box, a subscription that.
The two volumes offer a good introduction to numerous cases of counterinsurgency. Their inspiration were allfemale teams of the lioness program in iraq as well as another marine corps effort, the iraqi womens engagement program watson 2011. Todays troops deserve scientifically validated doctrine. For more on this topic see mcbrides and wibbens article, the gendering of counterinsurgency in afghanistan, in the summer 2012 edition of humanity. But to be of practical use to american troops in fierce battles in iraq, afghanistan and beyond, the final draft of the handbook must be more than a counterinsurgency 101 exercise. A long overdue account of british counterinsurgency efforts during iraq and afghanistan a highly insightful analysis not only a valuable read for anyone interested in the application of counterinsurgency, but especially for anyone interested in military adaptation and organizational learning. He suggests that perhaps the poor outcomes in iraq, afghanistan, and vietnam before them are the result of a. Sep 27, 2018 the counterinsurgency debate continues.
In afghanistan, its entirely possible that we wage the finest counterinsurgency operations ever devised by man, that we wage incredibly moral and ethically responsibility campaigns, that we wage. Chapter two will develop the pushpull model of the model using the most prominent counterinsurgency literature. Before founding caerus, kilcullen served 24 years as a soldier, diplomat and policy advisor for the australian and united states governments. Special thanks to david witter for his tireless efforts in support of this project. For some, disappointments in afghanistan and iraq following the muchpublicized release of field manual 324, counterinsurgency, in december 2006 have called into question the relevance or validity of counterinsurgency doctrine. Counterinsurgency in northern afghanistan wikipedia. Robert kemps candid account of the joint efforts of american military officers and. The cult of counterinsurgency the american prospect. The books strong suit is fitzgeralds use of many primary documents, particularly the many studies written during the war analyzing us efforts in indochina. This is a fine contribution to the literature on both counterinsurgency and the vietnam war. But tension between pakistan and afghanistan is rising, according to media reports. By examining the key lessons from all insurgencies since world war ii, it finds that most policymakers repeatedly underestimate the importance of indigenous actors to counterinsurgency efforts.
After the fall of the saddam hussein regime in iraq, uprisings brought the country to the brink of civil war, renewing interest in the subject of counterguerilla warfare. Jan 01, 2010 a themed collection of articles published in 20092010 by counterinsurgency thinker david kilcullen, following up on ideas previously outlined in his 2006era twentyeight articles. While this part of the country had long been relatively peaceful compared to the allout war zones of the south and east, tensions would flare up again in 2008 when the german soldiers deployed to the area came under attack more often, leading to the deaths of the several soldiers. Opinion counterinsurgency, by the book the new york times. In their 1967 book, the united states in vietnam, george kahin and john lewis. Editors note renewed american efforts to win the war in afghanistan against a resurgent taliban, as well as the ongoing war in iraq, have kept the question of counterinsurgency strategy at the forefront of u. David kilcullen is the chairman of caerus associates. Future troops need todays best practices for the next time the united states engages in counterinsurgency.
A counterinsurgency is a competition of ideas, ideologies, and sociopolitical movements. In the future, it must rebalance the carrots and the sticks with efforts to influence pakistans actions. Commentators who wish to discard counterinsurgency theory based on the result in afghanistan should take a closer look at the geographic impediments to success and adopt a more nuanced view of what the war in afghanistan says about counterinsurgency theory. Green offers an appraisal of village stability operations in southeastern afghanistan in his book, in the warlords shadow. The wars in afghanistan, iraq, and libya have each had many names. Sep 12, 2017 in the end, green makes interesting points defining the problem with earlier counterinsurgency efforts and has produced a welldocumented personal account of his trials and tribulations in afghanistan, but fails to substantiate his claims about village stability operations or counterinsurgency. Understanding counterinsurgency efforts in tribalized rural and muslim. Theory and practice, praeger security international, westport, ct introduction its hardly surprising that counterinsurgency warfare is often near the top of the reading list for contemporary military. The remainder of the introduction will lay out a brief history of american efforts in afghanistan since 911. The following addresses the events in northern afghanistan between april 2009 and 2014. The army has made this book required reading for soldiers and policymakers dealing with the wars in afghanistan and iraq and has captured some of its ideas in army doctrine.
This effort has been characterized by pushpull operations designed to push the insurgency and the population away from each other and pull the population towards the central government. In the excerpt from his book counterinsurgency in eastern afghanistan 20042008. Considerable effort was put into targeting and fighting insurgent groups and eliminating individual terrorist leaders. The book is a scholarly and thoughtprovoking work that deserves to be read by anyone wishing to study counterinsurgency doctrines past and its future prospects as a tool in the. Theory and practice, praeger security international, westport, ct introduction its hardly surprising that counterinsurgency warfare is often near the top of the reading list for. It focuses on the early stages of the insurgencyfrom 2002 until 2008and examines why and how the insurgency began. It is based on repeated trips to afghanistan, pakistan, and india in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008.
Understanding counterinsurgency efforts in tribalized rural and muslim environments. However, he does offer some methods and theories to test within the general framework of his strategy to promote a positive outcome. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. Intelligence failures crippling fight against insurgents in afghanistan, says report this article is more than 11 years old leaked analysis condemns us for lack of cooperation senior. Ahern clearly intended for the book to be read against the backdrop of todays conflicts, even though he seldom addresses the obvious parallels. Additionally, counterinsurgency efforts need to understand the culture of which the insurgency resides.
Counterinsurgency in eastern afghanistan 20042008 an. Understanding iraq, afghanistan, and vietnam shawn robert woodford. Counterinsurgency in crisis columbia university press. I have only read a few books about it, and i was eager to learn more about counterinsurgency, especially considering our efforts in iraq and afghanistan. Not the first guy youd think of in a counterinsurgency setting, but his experience as a community organizer in chicago mirrors those of too many platoon leaders in afghanistan and iraq. Cords had three components absent from our efforts in afghanistan today. This study explores the nature of the insurgency in afghanistan, the key challenges and successes of the u. Though im not the first to call for updates to counterinsurgency doctrine, now is the right time and small wars, big data is the right book to guide that effort. This book includes 15 vignettes of counterinsurgency operations by military units, many of them deployed to some of the most remote and difficult areas of afghanistan. Jul 28, 2016 the problem with afghanistans counterinsurgency. Metin gurcan served as a turkish special forces officer with extensive experience as a. Military professionals reading counterinsurgency in pakistan will recognize parallels between pakistani operations in the fata and the 2003 us operations in iraq.
Secretary of state john kerrys trip to afghanistan this week indicated an improvement in the u. Learning to forget is a masterful study of counterinsurgency thought and practice in the united states from vietnam to the wars in iraq and afghanistan. Pdf this book compares the catalysts and the growth of the insurgencies in. Since 20 december 2001 the date which marked the authorization of the international security assistance force isaf to assist the afghan government hundreds of thousands of coalition soldiers from around 50 different states have physically been. Nagl compares the organizational behavior of the us army in vietnam and the british army in. Irregular warfare is the oldest form of warfareit long predates the rise of conventional armies in ancient mesopotamia around 3000 bc. By examining the key lessons from all insurgencies since world war ii, it finds that most policymakers repeatedly underestimate the importance of. A civilian perspective published in 2014 as part of the adst memoirs and occasional papers series, activeduty foreign service officer robert kemp discusses the range of projects implemented, both from civilian agencies and the military, and how progress was. Slow to transition to a population security counterinsurgency strategy, the us military floundered for three years.
A counterinsurgency or counterinsurgency coin is defined by the united states department of state as comprehensive civilian and military efforts taken to simultaneously defeat and contain insurgency and address its root causes. Winning the counterinsurgency fight in iraq download ebook. In order to combat insurgent ideologies one must understand the values and characteristics of the ideology or religion. Counterinsurgency in crisis is not draped in mythology. This book includes 15 vignettes of counterinsurgency operations by military units, many of them. In an update on counterinsurgency efforts in afghanistan, the director of the pakistan afghanistan coordination cell said that if u. The army university press books are traditional and interactive works relevant to the current interests and concerns of the us army. A history of counterinsurgency by gregory fremontbarnes. This book examines counterinsurgency operations in afghanistan following the overthrow of the taliban regime in 2001. Intelligence failures crippling fight against insurgents. The limits of counterinsurgency doctrine in afghanistan.
And counterinsurgency academies have been established in iraq and afghanistan. Analysis afghanistan and the counterinsurgency war obama. Counterinsurgency strategy, as applied in afghanistan, rested on the assumption. Counterinsurgency in afghanistan and pakistan, 2001. Counterinsurgency, counternarcotics, and illicit economies in. Here is a picture of modern warfare by someone who has had his boots on the ground in some of todays worst trouble spotsincluding iraq and afghanistanand who has been studying counterinsurgency since 1985. Author seth jones writes in the summary, this studys assessment of 90 insurgencies indicates that it takes an average of 14 years to defeat insurgents once an insurgency develops.
These vignettes describe in detail the conditions faced by small units at the tactical level and their responses to local conditions. The list begins with three items that andrew identifies as absolute essentials for. This book written in 1964 was in many ways a forgotten work. It is a difficult proposition to suggest to us policy makers that the soviet effort in afghanistan, which they were actively working to spoil in the 1980s, might prove. Mar 18, 2016 assessments and communication strategies are two areas where technological advancement does not guarantee success. For many years after the vietnam war, the topic of counterinsurgency was. A history of counterinsurgency is a twovolume effort that is ambitious, wide in scope, and timely. The counterinsurgency reading list the moderate voice. Through these efforts, the military is approaching counterinsurgency in a systematic way. Mar 29, 2016 if you want to read a sentimental regimental history of valor and glory in iraq and afghanistan, you will want to pass on this book. Slow to transition to a population security counterinsurgency strategy, the us military floundered for three years before the surge in 2006. January 2011 jeffrey dressler afghanistan report 8. Since the morning of september 11th, 2001, the united states has been at war, not with a singular country or group but with an ideology.
But all three assumptions turned out to be spectacularly incorrect. Unlike conventional warfare, nonmilitary means are often the most effective elements, with military forces playing an enabling role. In the wake of the united states major counterinsurgency efforts in iraq and afghanistan, nearly every aspect of those interventions remains hotly debated. Recently the same theories have been revived by the us department of defense, tempered by our experiences in afghanistan and postwar iraq. When it comes to fighting corruption, bureaucracy, threats to personal security, and an old guard threatened by change, the parallels are obvious. Find, fix, fight, miles kitts surveys this very aspect what entails the use of force and how counterinsurgent success can be a vital requirement for the goals to be realised. Counterinsurgency coin is the blend of comprehensive civilian and military efforts designed to simultaneously contain insurgency and address its root causes. Fundamentals of companylevel counterinsurgency, as well as incorporating concepts and updates from later works, including the accidental guerrilla. Typically, these districts were in regions of afghanistan where the coalition conventional forces and the afghan national defense forces ansf. Csi press publications on counterinsurgency and stability. Village stability operations vso in afghanistan sof news. This page is over the subject of counterinsurgency and stability and its related issues. Click download or read online button to get winning the counterinsurgency fight in iraq book now.
Apr 09, 20 counterinsurgency, counternarcotics, and illicit economies in afghanistan. Counterinsurgency strategy, as applied in afghanistan, rested on the assumption that it was feasible for the u. Andrew exum aka abu muqawama has just updated his counterinsurgency reading list. In counterinsurgency, kilcullen brings together his most salient writings on this vitally important topic. Oct 23, 2008 soldiers in the dusty hills of yakima, washington, and in the swamps of louisiana are being trained in the doctrine. This book explains how and why the us lost the iraq and afghanistan counterinsurgency wars and the vietnam war and sets out a proposal for winning the next insurgency, one fieldtested on a small.
This study explores the nature of the insurgency in afghanistan, the key. Whereas previous attempts at counterinsurgency had focused on a topdown approach of training national security forces to fight the taliban across the country. This chapter outlines the research effort, and then provides a brief outline of the book. The aim of this book is to describe some ontheground problems of counterinsurgency coin efforts in trmes specifically in rural afghanistan and then to propose how these efforts might be improved.
Counterinsurgency in vietnam, afghanistan, and iraq. This thesis uses the foundational documents and teachings of counterinsurgency to assess the counterinsurgency effort in afghanistan. A deeper exploration of that ambivalence might have shed light on another tortured relationship. Whereas previous attempts at counterinsurgency had focused on a topdown approach of training national security forces to fight the taliban across the country, village stability operations took a bottomup approach wherein special operations teams recruited, vetted, and trained. Efforts in tribalized rural and muslim environments. It is impossible to read thomas aherns magisterial account of u. Along the way, it will be necessary to challenge many current assumptions about the conduct of counterinsurgency in afghanistan. Irregular warfare is the oldest form of warfareit long predates the rise of conventional armies in. Counterinsurgency ops in afghanistan appear to be paying off.