Counterinsurgency vs. Counterterrorism
Counterinsurgency vs. Counterterrorism:
A Civilian’s View
by Colonel Gary Anderson
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Every twenty years or so, our Army has a furious internal debate over what kind of army it wants to be. We are not talking about an argument over civilian driven social experimentation such as the controversy over gays in the military; this one involves basic disagreement on how America’s Army should doctrinally fight. With the exception of the Roman Catholic Church, nobody cherishes doctrine more than the U.S. Army and Air Force. The Marines consider doctrine to be a polite suggestion, and the Navy generally refuses to recognize the concept altogether.
The current debate raging among Army professionals is over how we should deal with insurgencies such as Iraq and Afghanistan. One side holds that the best way to defeat an insurgency is to win over the populace; this is loosely called population-centric counterinsurgency (COIN). The other school holds that the correct course is to kill the insurgents and destroy their cadres; this is known as counterterrorism (CT). The debate is less about tactics than it is about the future philosophical orientation of the Army beyond Afghanistan.
Download the full article: Counterinsurgency vs. Counterterrorism
Gary Anderson is a retired Marine Corps Colonel. He recently left the State Department after a year tour in Iraq.
