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Twenty-Eight Articles: Fundamentals of Company-Level Counterinsurgency (From Reducing Terrorism Through Situational Crime Prevention, P 61-70, 2009, Joshua D. Freilich and Graeme R. Newman, eds., see NCJ-229596)

NCJ Number
229599
Author(s)
David Kilcullen
Date Published
2009
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This chapter details 28 observations for conducting counterinsurgency.
Abstract
This 28 concepts for counterinsurgency presented in this chapter are based on the author's personal judgments and were written from field notes compiled while he was serving as an adviser in Iraq. The chapter begins with a description of counterinsurgency, the competition with insurgents for the right and the ability to win the hearts, minds, and acquiescence of the population. The 28 concepts developed by the author include: Know your turf; Diagnose the problem; Organize for intelligence; Organize for inter-agency operations; Travel light and harden your CSS (Combat Service Support); Find a political/cultural adviser; Have a game plan; Be there; Avoid knee jerk responses to first impressions; Build trusted networks; Practice deterrent patrolling; Remember the global audience; Engage the women, beware the children; Take stock regularly; Exploit a single narrative; Small is beautiful; Fight the enemy's strategy, not his forces; Build your own solution - only attack the enemy when he gets in the way; and Keep your extraction plan secret. Notes