In this essay I will argue that it is difficult for a foreign power to defeat an insurgency in the insurgent’s home territory. To begin, I will examine literature in the field of asymmetric warfare related to the differences and similarities between guerrilla warfare and terrorism. Finally, I will look at how literature in the field can be applied to further our understanding of counterinsurgency efforts.
What is an insurgency?
The media does a poor job of differentiating between terrorism and guerrilla warfare. Within the field many scholars do seek to differentiate between these two phenomena. Understanding this difference is critical before beginning a discussion of how to counter insurgent movements.
Guerrilla insurgency Theory
It seems only logical that in an effort to explain guerrilla insurgency that we begin with a definition. John Nagl explains that guerrilla “is derived from the Spanish term for ‘small war’”. He then follows the mutation of conflict literature from Jomini to Clauseiwtz, to Mao . Jomini had a very simple focus that has provided the basis of many military strategies. He argued that “the annihilation of the opponent’s force was the best route to victory”. This idea “was corrupted before World War I into the concept that offense was both practically and morally superior to defense in all cases”. He further argues that this has continued to be the mantra of many militaries despite the tragic outcomes of WWI. Although Clausewitz and Jomini lived at the same time, Clausewitz understood the change that was caused by the way that “Napoleon harnessed the power of the French people to make warfare”. This “rise in nationalism meant that people and armies were much more intimately linked. ...
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...itary History. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009.
Nagl, John A. Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife : Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam. Paperback ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005.
Pape, Robert Anthony. Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism. Random House Trade Paperback ed. New York: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2006.
Polk, William Roe. Violent Politics : A History of Insurgency, Terrorism & Guerrilla War, from the American Revolution to Iraq. 1st Harper Perennial ed. New York: Harper, 2008.
Record, Jeffrey. Beating Goliath : Why Insurgencies Win. 1st ed. Washington, D.C.: Potomac Books, 2007.
Taber, Robert. War of the Flea : The Classic Study of Guerrilla Warfare. Washington, D.C.: Brassey's, 2002.
Tse-Tung, Mao. On Guerrilla Warfare. Edited by Samuel Griffith: University of Illinois Press, 1961.
To support his claim, McPherson argues there is nothing morally relevant to make a distinction between terrorism and conventional war waged by states. In other words, from the moral angel, there is no difference between terrorism and conventional war. Both two types of political violence have some common natures related to morality like posing threat to civilian lives. McPherson argues that conventional war usually causes more casualties and produces fear widely among noncombatants. He focuses on defending the claim that terrorists sometimes do care about noncombatants and proportionality. This viewpoint infers that terrorists do not merely intent to do harm to civilians. As a matter of fact, they sometimes put civilian interests in the first place. Those terrorists caring the victims would not resor...
When understanding the types Guerilla warfare tactics dates back to the earliest recorded history and continues today, as it will in the future. A formidable strategy used against the military by the Native Americans to preserve their way of life. After the Civil War in 1865, U.S. settlements exceeded ...
E-History (2012, N.d.). Retrieved March 25, 2012, from http://ehistory.osu.edu/vietnam/essays/battlecommand/index.cfm.
Fussell, Paul. "Vietnam." The Bloody Game: An Anthology of Modern War. Ed. Paul Fussell. London: Scribners, 1991. 651-6.
Patrick M. Malone, the author of the his research book “The Skulking Way of War: Technology and Tactics among the New England Indians,” served as a U.S. Marine during the Vietnam War, where he experienced the opposition forces using guerrilla tactics, such as hiding and using the environment as their advantage and stealthy raid during night time when is completely dark in the jungles of Vietnam. Patrick M. Malone quoted about what Neil Sheehan said of the U.S. military advisors in Vietnam in 1962 all agree on one desire: “They hoped that the guerillas would one day be foolish enough to abandon their skulking ways and fight fairly in a stand-up battle” (Malone 6). The origin meaning of the term “skulking way of war” was primarily to describe
Fidel Castro, Ho Chi Minh, Mao Tse-tung, “Che” Guevara, Osama bin Laden and others have professed unique qualifications as innovators and practitioners of Guerrilla warfare. However, in our relatively short military history, we have periodically had to use or defend against irregular warfare. During the French and Indian Wars as well as the Revolutionary War, we were the guerrillas. In the Civil War, there were the partisan operations of Mosby, Forrest and the outlaw Quantrill, who played a key role in the Confederacy’s ability to wage effective war against the numerically and industrially superior Union for over four years. It is often forgotten, that regular forces require a ratio of ten to one to prevail against a partisan operating on their native soil3. Nevertheless, one thing remains constant: the adaptability and courage of the American Soldier under the harshest of circumstances continues to allow them to prevail.
In Brym’s article he discusses what research has shown about the motivations of suicide bombers. Brym and my fellow classmate explained to me how suicide bombers may be motivated by politics, religion, or retaliatory aims (Brym, Kyra Howard). Both Brym and Howard helped me view the issue of suicide bombers in multiple
Young, Marilyn B. Buzzanco Robert. Eds. A Companion to The Vietnam War. Blackwell: Malden MA, 2002
The relationship between conventional and guerilla operations was a key element of the Vietnamese communists’ “Dau Tranh” strategy to fight and win the Vietnam War. A brief description of the Dua Tranh (meaning struggle) strategy is appropriate since it was the basis for North Vietnam’s success. The strategy consisted of an armed struggle and a political struggle. The armed struggle began with Stage One hit and run guerilla tactics to “decimate the enemy piecemeal and weaken then eliminate the government’s administrative control of the countryside...
Anderson, D. (2002). The Columbia guide to the Vietnam War. New York: Columbia University Press.
The world’s history is majorly shaped by mega wars that happen both inside and outside the boundaries of individual nations. Almost every sovereign state in the world had to forcefully liberate itself from its colonizers and oppressors mainly through warfare. For instance, America had to fight a long and exhausting revolutionary war against the British before it could attain its independence in 1783, likewise is the fate of many other nations. It is important to understand the two distinct types of wars that exist and their implications. Guerrilla warfare and the conventional military warfare are two types of war that are very different in their execution and military approach. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the similarities and differences existing between the American war in Vietnam and the American Revolution (Vetter, 1997).
Reich, W. (1998). Origins of Terrorism: Psychologies, Ideologies, Theologies, States of Mind. Washington, D.C.: The Woodrow Wilson center Press.
Insurgency is defined as a rebellion against an indigenous government or a foreign occupier. In an asymmetric war there are two sides a strong and a weak side which have two strategies each. The French, who were the “stronger” side used “direct attack” which aimed at destroying the weak actor’s (Algeria) armed forces and thereby their capacity to offer violent resistance. During the seco...
Rethinking Violence: States and Non-state Actors in Conflict. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 2010. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), EBSCOhost (accessed April 22, 2014).
Gilbert, Marc Jason. "Vietnam War." World Book Student. World Book, 2010. Web. 21 March 2010.