Human Intelligence in Counterinsurgency: Persistent Pathologies in the Collector-Consumer Relationship
Human Intelligence in Counterinsurgency: Persistent Pathologies in the Collector-Consumer Relationship
by Michael Gallagher
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In the realm of counterinsurgency (COIN), the currency is intelligence. In other words—as the Counterinsurgency Field Manual succinctly puts it—intelligence drives operations. “Good” intelligence provides precision, helping the counterinsurgent eliminate insurgents from the populace “like surgeons cutting out cancerous tissue while keeping other vital organs intact.” Within this surgical effort, Human Intelligence (HUMINT) proves uniquely valuable; it can obtain information that more technologically-oriented assets cannot. Thus, while all counterinsurgents collect operational reporting as they perform their daily functions—what is frequently termed “passive” collection—HUMINT requires “active” collectors who are specially trained to conduct military source operations and interrogations.
Yet counterinsurgency doctrine is impoverished with respect to the role of HUMINT. Paradigmatic works pay lip service to the importance of HUMINT in general but offer few concrete lessons for commanders or collectors in particular. In this essay I aim to fill this gap. I argue that counterinsurgency doctrine fails to recognize that the most critical element of HUMINT work is not the relationship between a source and his handler, but rather the relationship between a HUMINT collector and his supported operational consumer. This collector-consumer relationship suffers from eight persistent pathologies that engender mistrust within the counterinsurgent force and therefore warrant closer examination.
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Michael Gallagher is a Captain in the Marine Corps and currently a fellow in the Junior Officer Strategic Intelligence Program. He deployed twice to Iraq as a Human Intelligence Exploitation Team Commander. Any persistent pathologies in this paper are the author’s and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of Defense, the U.S. Marine Corps or the U.S. Government. As for the good stuff, many thanks to Kevin Kratzer, Peter Kingston, Matt Pottinger, Josh Geltzer, Joseph Collins, John Gordon, Nate Lampert, Eric Oemler, Greg Smith, and Mike Tomai.
