HQ M-NC-I Counterinsurgency Guidance
BREAKING NEWS…Counterinsurgency Guidance that Headquarters, Multi-National Corps — Iraq will be releasing later today. It is signed by Lieutenant General Ray Odierno. The prior link is the two-fer Arabic & English version. Here’s Arabic only and English only.
Ten Key Points:
Secure the people where they sleep.
Population security is our primary mission, one that will take time, and one we must carry out deliberately. Most extra-judicial killings occur at night and in people’s homes…
Give the people justice and honor.
Iraqis value justice and honor. In the counterinsurgency fight, we want the hands that bring security to be the hands that help bring justice and honor as well…
Integrate civilian and military efforts — this is an interagency, combined arms fight.
Embedded Provincial Reconstruction Teams now operate directly alongside many military units, bringing cultural, political, and economic expertise to the tactical commander’s overall counterinsurgency effort…
Get out and walk — move mounted, work dismounted.
Vehicles like the up-armored HMMWV limit our situational awareness and insulate us from the Iraqi people we intend to secure. They also make us predicatble, often obliging us to move slowly on established routes. These vehicles offer protection, but they do so at the cost of a great deal of effectiveness…
We are in a fight for intelligence — all the time.
Intelligence is not a “product” provided by higher headquarters, but something we gather ourselves through our own operations. Tactical reporting, from civilian and military agencies, is essential…
Every unit must advise their Iraqi partners.
Developing a capable, credible ISF remains central to establishing sustainable security, and partnership is the key to this effort…
Include Iraqi Security Forces in your operations at the lowest possible level.
When it comes to language capacity, cultural awareness, and having a “feel” for what is normal in the local environment, Coalition forces are at a natural disadvantage. In contrast, ISF units possess all these capabilities but lack our combat power. Working together with the ISF and the local populace, we are a quite powerful combination; working unilaterally, we can be defeated piecemeal…
Look beyond the IED — get the network that placed it.
Every IED provides a window into the network that placed it. If properly exploited, this window can be used to damage and “roll up” that network…
Be first with the truth.
Since Soldier actions speak louder than what PAOs say, we must be mindful of the impact our daily interactions with the Iraqis have on global audiences via the news media. Commanders should communicate key messages down to the individual level, but, in general, leaders and Soldiers should be able to tell their stories unconstrained by overly prescriptive themes…
Make the people choose.
Some in the Iraqi civilian population want to “sit on the fence” and avoid having to choose between the insurgents and the government. We must get the Iraqi populace off the fence — and on the side of the GOI…
