Kilcullen on COIN “Persistent-Presence” vs. “Repetitive Raiding”
Review of Dave Kilcullen’s The Accidental Guerrilla: Fighting Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One by Mark Safranski at Chicago Boyz.
I purchased a copy of The Accidental Guerrilla, intending to read it last summer but, being buried under my own academic course work, I was forced to put it aside until recently. I am not finished yet but I can say that Col. Kilcullen has written a seminal, if idiosyncratic, work on the theory and practice of counterinsurgency — no doubt why some reviewers found The Accidental Guerrilla be difficult book to read, one that “…could be like a junior high school student’s attempting “Ulysses.” Or were aggravated by Kilcullen’s format through which he enunciated a more nuanced understanding of the war and COIN than they found politically tolerable. Most readers in this corner of the blogosphere will find The Accidental Guerrilla an intellectually stimulating book from an author well grounded in the realities of Iraq and Afghanistan, who is the leading theorist of counterinsurgency today…
Abstractly, Kilcullen’s “persistent-presence” has superior strategic qualities — it isolates and demoralizes the enemy and daunts the latently hostile while connecting our side to the population and “pumping up” the morale of allies and sympathizers. The initiative is seized and control of the battleground is determined. Most of the time, this is an advantage, so long as the chosen ground is also tactically defensible, unlike, say at Dien Bien Phu. When Julius Caesar was carrying out his conquest of Gaul, he often divided his legions for their winter quarters, even though this entailed some risk, because doing so reinforced the political spine of Rome’s local allies in tribes of uncertain loyalty and intimidated the malcontents or secured the population against raiding by still hostile Gauls or Germans from across the Rhine. Caesar did a lot better in Gaul than did the French in Indochina…
Much more at Chicago Boyz.
Care for a preview of Dr. David Kilcullen’s newly released book on COIN? Then go here: Counterinsurgency, can be ordered and select portions read (Look Inside). Sure to be a classic – SWJ says so – here is the product description from Amazon:
David Kilcullen is one of the world’s most influential experts on counterinsurgency and modern warfare. A Senior Counterinsurgency Advisor to General David Petraeus in Iraq, his vision of war powerfully influenced America’s decision to rethink its military strategy in Iraq and implement “the Surge,” now recognized as a dramatic success.
In Counterinsurgency, Kilcullen brings together his most salient writings on this key topic. At the heart of the book is his legendary “Twenty-Eight Articles.” In it, he shows company leaders how to practice counterinsurgency in the real world, “at night, with the GPS down, the media criticizing you, the locals complaining in a language you don’t understand, and an unseen enemy killing your people by ones and twos.” Reading this piece is like reading a modern-day Sun Tzu–an essential read for officers in the field, and not infrequently an excellent source of wisdom for readers of all stripes, military or civilian. In such pithy adages as “Rank is nothing: talent is everything” or “Train the squad leaders–then trust them,” Kilcullen offers advice that any leader would be wise to consider. The other pieces in the book include Kilcullen’s pioneering study of counterinsurgency in Indonesia, his ten-point plan for “the Surge” in Iraq, and his frank look at the problems in Afghanistan. He concludes with a new strategic approach to the War on Terrorism, arguing that counterinsurgency rather than traditional counterterrorism may offer the best approach to defeating global jihad.
Counterinsurgency is a picture of modern warfare by someone who has had his boots on the ground in some of today’s worst trouble spots–including Iraq and Afghanistan–and who has been studying the topic since 1995. Filled with down-to-earth, common-sense insights, this book is indispensable for all those interested in making sense of our world in an age of terror.
We here at SWJ kind of took a liking to Counterinsurgency’s dedication:
For Dave Dilegge and Bill Nagle, founders and editors of Small Wars Journal. They gave the counterguerrilla underground a home, at a time when misguided leaders banned even the word “insurgency,” though busily losing to one. Scholars, warriors, and agitators, Dave and Bill laid the foundation for battlefield success; our generation owes them a debt of gratitude.
Much appreciated Dave, it sincerely means a lot to both of us. Order Counterinsurgency today.
