New counterinsurgency plan by US, but more troops needed

"The United States Army and Marines are finishing work on a new counterinsurgency doctrine that draws on the hard-learned lessons from Iraq and makes the welfare and protection of civilians a bedrock element of military strategy.
. . . One military officer who served in Iraq said American units there generally carried out the tenets of the emerging doctrine when they had sufficient forces. But protecting civilians is a troop-intensive task. He noted that there were areas in which there were not enough American and Iraqi troops to protect Iraqis adequately against intimidation, a central element of the counterinsurgency strategy."

Basic tenets of new plan
1) "If military forces stay locked up in compounds, they lose touch with the people, appear to be running scared and cede the initiative to insurgents."
2) "Using substantial force increases the risk of collateral damage and mistakes, and increases the opportunity for insurgent propaganda."
3) "As the level of insurgent violence drops, the military must be used less, with stricter rules of engagement, and the police force used more."
4) "Sometimes doing nothing is the best reaction. Often an insurgent carries out a terrorist act . . . with the primary purpose of causing a reaction that can then be exploited."
5) "Often dollars and ballots have more impact than bombs and bullets."
6) "The host nation's doing something tolerably is better than our doing it well."
7) "Insurgents quickly adapt to successful counterinsurgency practices. The more effective a tactic is, the faster it becomes out of date."
8) Military actions by themselves cannot achieve success."
9) "Successful counterinsurgency relies on the competence and judgment of soldiers and marines at all levels."

source
The New York Times. Military Hones a New Strategy on Insurgency (plus graphic). October 5, 2006.

posted: friday, october 6, 2006, 1:02 PM ET
update: friday, october 6, 2006, 1:08 PM ET