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Counterinsurgency Quotes

Browse 14 quotes about Counterinsurgency.

Counterinsurgency Quotes

“Their choice is clear. Stop fighting, turn in your weapons, declare allegiance to our 'New' Republic, and abide forever in peace and security in accordance with the Will of the People. Or... be destroyed.”

Military Socialism Police State General Totalitarian Theo Counterinsurgency Junta Hanks

Book:The Demagogue Wars

Source: The Demagogue Wars

“Counterinsurgency rests on the assumption that the enemy has significant support in the communities from which it recruits. The aim of counterinsurgency strategy is to deny the enemy any propaganda victories that can further fuel its recruitment. Insurgents must be isolated from their targeted host communities. This requires a combination of psychological, physical and economic warfare, all with the aim of undermining the insurgents’ ideological, operational and financial capabilities. From: Maajid Nawaz's article titled, 'How to Beat Islamic State', December 11th, 2015”

Terrorism Counter Terrorism Islamism Counterinsurgency

Author:Maajid Nawaz

“Superior might does not guarantee success, especially in a war where political considerations dominate.”

War Might Power Insurgency Superior Counterinsurgency

Author:Richard H. Shultz Jr.

“Just in time for the renewal of the war debate in Congress, the University of Chicago Press has released The U.S. Army / Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual. . . . It's a nifty volume, not only because it gives you a sense of what our most highly regarded military theorists are thinking but because sometimes what they're thinking is the last thing you'd expect. Especially interesting is a section called 'Paradoxes of Counterinsurgency Operations,' which tells us: 'Sometimes doing nothing is the best reaction' and 'Sometimes, the more force is used, the less effective it is.'”

“One is the goals of 9/11 itself, of that attack was to draw the United States into Afghanistan to fight a counterinsurgency as the Soviets had done before them.”

States Done Fighting Goal United United States Draws Afghanistan Counterinsurgency

Author:Mark Danner

“I think indeed our response on counterinsurgency needs to be finely tuned to the needs of Afghanistan. This is not Iraq. We don't have a Sons of Iraq here. We don't have the same divisions here that we had between Sunni and Shia.”

Thinking Needs Son Response Iraq Division Afghanistan Shia Counterinsurgency

Author:Rahm Emanuel

“I do not believe that a counterterrorism strategy all by itself, without a sufficient level of counterinsurgency, will work.”

Believe Levels Strategy Sufficient Counterinsurgency

Author:Rahm Emanuel

“There are some ideas that will translate from Iraq to Afghanistan and there are many that will not. The first lesson of counterinsurgency, in fact, is that every situation is truly unique, has its own context, its own specific set of factors - and you have to understand that context in enormous detail to be able to craft a sound and comprehensive approach.”

Firsts Ideas Facts Able Sound Situation Lessons Approach Unique Iraq Details Enormous Factors Crafts Afghanistan Translate Comprehensive Counterinsurgency

Author:David Petraeus

“You know as well as I do that counterinsurgency is a very nuanced type of military operation.”

Knows Wells Military Type Operations Military Operations Counterinsurgency

Author:John Abizaid

“... the United States, for generations, has sustained two parallel but opposed states of mind about military atrocities and human rights: one of U.S. benevolence, generally held by the public, and the other of ends-justify-the-means brutality sponsored by counterinsurgency specialists. Normally the specialists carry out their actions in remote locations with little notice in the national press. That allows the public to sustain its faith in a just America, while hard-nosed security and economic interests are still protected in secret.”

“Netanyahu and his coalition have no strategy of their own except endless counterinsurgency against the backdrop of a steadily deteriorating diplomatic position within the world and an inexorable demographic decline. The operation in Gaza is not Netanyahu’s strategy in excess; it is Netanyahu’s strategy in its entirety. The liberal Zionist, two-state vision with which I identify, which once commanded a mainstream position within Israeli political life has been relegated to a left-wing rump within it.”

“I think the central mission in Afghanistan right now is to protect the people, certainly, and that would be inclusive of everybody, and that in a, in an insurgency and a counterinsurgency, that's really the center of gravity.”

People Thinking Would Be Right Now Protect Missions Afghanistan Gravity Insurgency Center Of Gravity Counterinsurgency

Author:Michael Mullen

“Sometimes,doing nothing is the best reaction.”

Sometimes Reactions Doing Nothing Counterinsurgency

Book:Obama's Wars

Source: Obama's Wars

“The general's staff is a handpicked collection of killers, spies, geniuses, patriots, political operators and outright maniacs. There's a former head of British Special Forces, two Navy Seals, an Afghan Special Forces commando, a lawyer, two fighter pilots and at least two dozen combat veterans and counterinsurgency experts. They jokingly refer to themselves as Team America, taking the name from the South Park-esque sendup of military cluelessness, and they pride themselves on their can-do attitude and their disdain for authority.”