Sisyphus and Counterinsurgency
by Major Niel Smith

Sisyphus and Counterinsurgency (Full PDF Article)

In Greek legend, Sisyphus was a king condemned by the gods to roll a huge rock up a hill only to have it roll down again for eternity. Students of counterinsurgency often feel like Sisyphus, as the United States Army continually resists institutionalizing counterinsurgency across the force, only to have to re-learn the lessons at a heavy price later before preparing to discard them again.

About a month ago, I was asked to deliver a short presentation to the Canadian Army on tactical counterinsurgency lessons learned over the past years in Iraq. What initially seemed like an easy task quickly became difficult as I synthesized the complex and varied experiences of US Army units into relevant and concise points transferrable to a foreign army. After a long night, I produced ten observations that reflect enduring lessons from Iraq that would resonate with military audiences. They are:

• Learn from the past.
• Learn to ask understanding questions.
• Data is not understanding.
• Mass all of your resources to achieve the objective.
• Security matters.
• Population control is critical for success.
• Build human infrastructure alongside the physical.
• Understand perceptions matter far more than truth.
• Communicate effectively.

None of these are new, nor are they all inclusive, as significant areas are not covered. They do represent a start point for discussion about counterinsurgency operations at the tactical level.

Sisyphus and Counterinsurgency (Full PDF Article)