Throughout the course of history, human beings have had to contend with conflict. From the slave uprising led by Spartacus more than 2000 years ago to modern day conflicts, the world has borne witness to changing strategies and weapon technology in the war theater. Most war tacticians are of the view that insurgencies are the most complicated to overcome. This article delves into counter insurgency history, albeit from an American perspective.
Insurgencies come in various types. Nowadays, the most practiced ones are guerilla conflict and terrorism. Most terror related wars are carried out in urban and semi urban settings. In comparison, guerilla warfare is often based in rural places and dense jungles. The key instigators of these kinds of conflicts are often not affiliated to governments. The term counterinsurgency is used to denote the act of responding to an insurgency with the aim of stopping it or controlling its effects.
These days, most conflicts are concentrated in South East Asia, Africa and the Middle East. For years, the insurgent groups that have been dominant in these regions are Al Shabaab, ISIL, Al Qaeda and rebel organizations that have the intention of toppling governments. A couple of years back, the most recognized insurgent group in Latin America was FARC. Fortunately, it ended its conflict with the government and brought some much needed peace to Colombia when it recently signed a peace deal with the authorities.
Regardless of where most insurgencies emanate from, one truth is that the US army has been involved in counterinsurgency in most of them. Take the case of the Afghan Taliban insurgency, one that the US has countered for decades. Another one to include in the list is the international war on terror.
Insurgency type conflict is not simply confined to the years that followed the new millennium. In the 1960s, America was involved in a bloody battle to eliminate communist fighters who were hell bent on toppling the capitalist Vietnamese regime. It is not generally known who won the Vietnam War, but many pundits have awarded the US a pyrrhic victory. During the same period, America was intent on toppling the regime of Fidel Castro in Cuba and funded a militia to fight the Cubans on its behalf.
The operation, which was later billed the Bay of Pigs invasion, was a total loss for the US. The Cuban authorities were well aware of the planned invasion, and had thus mounted proper defenses to counter it. Historians like to bill it as one of the worst disasters in American military and foreign policy history.
Counterinsurgencies are often launched with three broad objectives. They include the achievement of political and economic stability plus security. Counterinsurgency is basically aimed at getting things back to normal. During conflict, economies suffer, there is political instability and civilians stand lose their lives at any moment.
Many publications on counterinsurgency have been made. Some authors postulate that provided there are genuine reasons for an insurgency, it is likely to succeed. The truthfulness of this can only be known with time.
Insurgencies come in various types. Nowadays, the most practiced ones are guerilla conflict and terrorism. Most terror related wars are carried out in urban and semi urban settings. In comparison, guerilla warfare is often based in rural places and dense jungles. The key instigators of these kinds of conflicts are often not affiliated to governments. The term counterinsurgency is used to denote the act of responding to an insurgency with the aim of stopping it or controlling its effects.
These days, most conflicts are concentrated in South East Asia, Africa and the Middle East. For years, the insurgent groups that have been dominant in these regions are Al Shabaab, ISIL, Al Qaeda and rebel organizations that have the intention of toppling governments. A couple of years back, the most recognized insurgent group in Latin America was FARC. Fortunately, it ended its conflict with the government and brought some much needed peace to Colombia when it recently signed a peace deal with the authorities.
Regardless of where most insurgencies emanate from, one truth is that the US army has been involved in counterinsurgency in most of them. Take the case of the Afghan Taliban insurgency, one that the US has countered for decades. Another one to include in the list is the international war on terror.
Insurgency type conflict is not simply confined to the years that followed the new millennium. In the 1960s, America was involved in a bloody battle to eliminate communist fighters who were hell bent on toppling the capitalist Vietnamese regime. It is not generally known who won the Vietnam War, but many pundits have awarded the US a pyrrhic victory. During the same period, America was intent on toppling the regime of Fidel Castro in Cuba and funded a militia to fight the Cubans on its behalf.
The operation, which was later billed the Bay of Pigs invasion, was a total loss for the US. The Cuban authorities were well aware of the planned invasion, and had thus mounted proper defenses to counter it. Historians like to bill it as one of the worst disasters in American military and foreign policy history.
Counterinsurgencies are often launched with three broad objectives. They include the achievement of political and economic stability plus security. Counterinsurgency is basically aimed at getting things back to normal. During conflict, economies suffer, there is political instability and civilians stand lose their lives at any moment.
Many publications on counterinsurgency have been made. Some authors postulate that provided there are genuine reasons for an insurgency, it is likely to succeed. The truthfulness of this can only be known with time.
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