Fighting Insurgents--No Shortcuts to Success

摘要

In a military with an overwhelmingly conventional war mindset with senior officers used to getting exact data verified by high tech scientific means, the very inexact intelligence provided by HUMINT almost is guaranteed to cause a high level of frustration for commanders and intelligence personnel alike. So, the temptation in counterinsurgency to modify the methods to gain useful information from those thought to possess it is understandable. Thus, it would be useful to remind ourselves of some lessons of history.