You know as well as I do that counterinsurgency is a very nuanced type of military operation.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Offensive operations and hunting down the enemy is an integral part of any counterinsurgency approach.
You can't talk about defeating insurgencies in the same way that you can with a conventional army.
The most stupid mistake a counter-insurgency operation can make is alienating the population. If you alienate the population, you're finished.
The overriding goal of counterinsurgency is to make friends: You make friends with the people; you isolate the insurgents.
If night raids and detentions are an unavoidable part of modern counterinsurgency warfare, then so is the resentment they breed.
You can't kill your way to success in a counter insurgency effort. You have to protect the people, get the civil military balance right, train the locals, and practice effective strategic communications.
I never call it an insurgency. I call it terrorism.
Asymmetrical warfare is a euphemism for terrorism, just like collateral damage is a euphemism for killing innocent civilians.
There is no doubt that counterterrorism takes time because it is not action against a regular army.
Counter-insurgency, as you know, is a roller-coaster affair.