Our New Afghanistan Deployment
Our New Afghanistan Deployment – Mark O’Neill, The Interpreter.
… An effective police force is an essential pre-requisite for stabilising a society affected by insurgency. The proper use of police by counterinsurgents offers security to the population, develops intelligence, and reinforces the appearance of normalcy that is crucial to emphasising the rule of law. Such an effect will be highly complementary to the Australian military effort in Oruzgan Province.
While working for the Counterinsurgency Center for Excellence in Iraq during 2007-2008, members of my team in Ramadi saw the impact a viable police force can have in counterinsurgency. The US Army and Marines stabilised what had previously been an insurgent stronghold. The work of the Marines was noteworthy in mentoring and developing the Iraqi Police into an effective force – a significant factor in the success of their efforts was the embedding of troops throughout the city’s police stations and the delivery of training at those sites.
Unlike our American allies, Australia need not rely on its military to train indigenous police forces. The investment made in the development of the Australian Federal Police’s International Deployment Group (IDG) over the last half decade has given Australia a unique capability among its principal allies with respect to deployable police…
More at The Interpreter.
Lieutenant Colonel Mark O’Neill was the Lowy Institute’s inaugural Chief of Army Fellow. Mark is the author of ‘Confronting the Hydra: Big problems with small wars’, a Lowy Institute paper on counterinsurgency strategy. The Interpreter is the blog of the Lowy Institute for International Policy, an independent international policy think tank.
