Table Of ContentCounterinsurgency
Counterinsurgency has staked its claim in the new century as the new
Americanwayofwar.Yet,thewarsinAfghanistanandIraqhavereviveda
historicaldebateaboutthecosts–monetary,political,andmoral–ofoper-
ations designed to eliminate insurgentsand build nations. Today’s counter-
insurgencyproponentspointto“smallwars”pasttosupporttheirviewthat
theenemyis“biddable”ifthecorrecttacticalformulaeareapplied.Douglas
Porch’ssweepinghistoryofcounterinsurgencycampaignscarriedoutbythe
three“providentialnations”ofFrance,Britain,andtheUnitedStates,ranging
from nineteenth-century colonial conquests to General Petraeus’ “surge” in
Iraq, challenges the contemporary mythologizing of counterinsurgency as a
humanewayofwar.Thereality,hereveals,isthat“heartsandminds”has
never been a recipe for lasting stability and that past counterinsurgency
campaignshavesucceedednotthroughstate-buildingbutbyshatteringand
dividingsocietieswhileunsettlingcivil-militaryrelations.
DouglasPorchisDistinguishedProfessorofNationalSecurityAffairsatthe
Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California. A specialist in military
history, he advises on security issues all over the world. His most recent
book, The Path to Victory: The Mediterranean Theater in World War II,
receivedtheAwardforExcellenceinUSArmyHistoricalWritingfromthe
ArmyHistoricalFoundation.
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Counterinsurgency
Exposing the Myths of the New Way of War
Douglas Porch
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CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
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PublishedintheUnitedStatesofAmericabyCambridgeUniversityPress,NewYork
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Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107699847
©DouglasPorch2013
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andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten
permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublished2013
PrintedandboundintheUnitedKingdombyBelliandiBainiLtd
AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloguinginPublicationdata
Porch,Douglas.
Counterinsurgency:exposingthemythsofthenewwayofwar/DouglasPorch.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferences.
ISBN978-1-107-69984-7
1. Counterinsurgency–Casestudies. 2. Smallwars–Casestudies.
3. Counterinsurgency–History. I. Title.
U240.P66 2013
355.02018–dc23
2012038690
ISBN978-1-107-02738-1Hardback
ISBN978-1-107-69984-7Paperback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceor
accuracyofURLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredto
inthispublication,anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuch
websitesis,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate.
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CONTENTS
Listofillustrations pagevii
Listofmaps ix
Prefaceandacknowledgments xi
1 A“happycombinationofclemencywithfirmness”:thesmall
warsprologue 1
2
TheroadfromSedan 41
3 Theparoxysmsofimperialmightintheshadowofthe
GreatWar 79
4 FromTipperarytoTelAviv:Britishcounterinsurgencyinthe
WorldWarIIera 123
5 Fromsmallwarstolaguerresubversive:theradicalizationand
collapseofFrenchcounterinsurgency 153
6 Vietnam,counterinsurgency,andtheAmericanway
ofwar 201
7 “Aconspiracyofheroes”:revolutionandcounterinsurgency
inLatinAmerica 224
8 Buildingthe“mostsuccessfulcounterinsurgencyschool”:COIN
astheBritishwayofwar 246
9
Britain’sThirtyYears’WarinNorthernIreland 268
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vi / Contents
10
Vietnamwithahappyending:Iraqand“thesurge” 289
11
Conclusion 318
Notes 347
Selectbibliography 400
Index 417
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ILLUSTRATIONS
1 MarshalThomas-RobertBugeaud.Lafon,Jean-Emile
(1817–1886)/Muséedel’Armée,Paris,France/
Giraudon/TheBridgemanArtLibrary page18
2 FrenchartistHoraceVernetcelebratedFrench
victoriesinAlgeriainheroicstyle,likeBugeaud’s
captureofAbd-el-Kader’sretinueatIsly(14August,
1844)/MuséedesArtsd’Afriqueetd’Oceanie,Paris,
France/Giraudon/TheBridgemanArtLibrary 21
3 PaulvonLettow-Vorbeckin1919.©Bettmann/
CORBIS 82
4 T.E.LawrenceandLowellThomascirca1917.
©Bettmann/CORBIS 93
5 MarshalHubertLyauteygreetsWorldWarIhero
MarshalPhilippePétainwhoarrivesinMorocco
todirecttheRiffWarin1925.©Time&Life
Pictures/GettyImages 101
6 BritishAuxies,aPeeler,andaTommyinIreland,
1921.TheBritishreflextofusepoliceandarmyroles
intoaparamilitary,evenaspecialoperations
approachtoorder,helpedtoundermineroutine
policeworkandmilitarydiscipline.©GettyImages 115
7 BritishRoyalEngineersmarkaPalestinianhouse
fordemolition,ameasuretakentoclampdown
onArabdissidenceduringtheGreatUprising
(1936–1939).©UniversalImagesGroup/GettyImages 134
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viii/Listofillustrations
8 OrdeWingate,apioneerofSpecialOperationsForces,
inBurmalate1942.©Time&LifePictures/Getty
Images 136
9 TitoandYugoslavpartisanscirca1943.Encouraging
resistancegroupsdidlittletoadvanceAlliedstrategic
goals,madenon-combatantsthetargetsof
retaliation,andcreatedpost-conflictproblemsof
disorderandpoliticalcontrol.©Time&Life
Pictures/GettyImages 139
10 TheExodusinHaifaJuly1947.©Bettmann/CORBIS 151
11 FemaleAlgerianALNinsurgent.©Gamma-Keystone
viaGettyImages. 189
12 GreenBeretwithmontagnardsofVietnam’sCentral
Highlandsin1969.©GettyImages 203
13 CastrovisitsNorthVietnamin1973.©AFP/Getty
Images 235
14 KikuyucattleroundedupbytheBritishinKenya
inMarch1953.©GettyImages 259
15 BritishtroopssearchciviliansinBelfastAugust1971.
©Popperfoto/GettyImages 275
16 MembersoftheUS-backedNeighborhoodPatrol
AwakeningCouncilinAugust28,2008.
©GettyImages 308
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MAPS
1 VonLettow-Vorbeck’smeanderings page84
2 Lawrence’scampaign 88
3 Indochina 166
4 Algeria 178
5 Malaya 252
6 Kenya 257
7 NorthernIreland 269
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