"COUNTERINSURGENCY IS ARMED SOCIAL WORK"

I just finished reading a remarkable and fluidly written distillation of counterinsurgency principles that had been recommended by Dave Dilegge of the Small Wars Journal and Dr. Tom Odom. Entitled " Twenty-Eight Articles", ( PDF) it's author is Dr. David Kilcullen, a retired colonel in the Australian Army and a special adviser to both the U.S. Department of Defense and the State Department on irregular warfare and counterterrorism.

Tom Odom has summarized the article here and interesting discussion follows but I strongly recommend reading it for yourself. A few tidbits of Kilcullen wisdom:

"..focus on the population, build your own solution, further your game plan and fight the enemy only when he gets in the way "

"How would you react if foreigners came to your neighborhood and conducted the operations you planned? What if somebody came to your mother's house and did that ?"

" 'Hearts' means means persuading people their best interests are served by your success; 'Minds' means convincing them that you can protect them and that resisting is pointless. Note that neither concept has to do whether people like you."

"..'normality' in Kandahar is not the same as in Kansas"

"...stop your people fraternizing with local children...children are sharp-eyed, lacking in empathy, and willing to commit atrocities from which their elders will shrink. "

" Exploit a single narrative "

"...there is no such thing as impartial humanitarian assistance"

Impressive.  ¶ 7:13 PM