Counter-insurgency, as you know, is a roller-coaster affair.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
The word 'insurgency' had connotations that really sent a shiver down the spine of folks in Washington, in the United States - for good reason, because it means this is something much bigger than just a few terrorist cells.
The most stupid mistake a counter-insurgency operation can make is alienating the population. If you alienate the population, you're finished.
You know as well as I do that counterinsurgency is a very nuanced type of military operation.
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.
The overriding goal of counterinsurgency is to make friends: You make friends with the people; you isolate the insurgents.
Offensive operations and hunting down the enemy is an integral part of any counterinsurgency approach.
Very unusual in an insurgency to have absolutely no political agenda other than to return to power. Most insurgents have a political side to them.
The Pakistani Army, the Frontier Corps, the Frontier Scouts and Police have carried out quite impressive counter-insurgency operations.
If night raids and detentions are an unavoidable part of modern counterinsurgency warfare, then so is the resentment they breed.
I never call it an insurgency. I call it terrorism.