Restorers of Hope: Shaping Conditions for Success Against Al-Qaeda's Regional Insurgency

Abstract

Al-Queda's goal is to create an Islamist region ruled by religious authorities. Their attack against the United States was designed to remove U.S. influence and involvement in their insurgency. They will attempt to mobilize the people with propaganda and terrorism to topple the governments in the region. The key to defeating an insurgency is to realize that the people are the battlefield, and winning their support involves protecting them from the insurgent, while fostering changes to address the issues that sparked the insurgency and to provide hope. U.S. Army Civil Affairs soldiers have the regional alignment, cultural awareness, language abilities and civilian-acquired skills required to conduct Civil-Military Operations (CMO) in counterinsurgency operations. Two critical missions that they can perform for counter-insurgency are Population and Resources Control (PRC) and Humanitarian Assistance (HA). In the case studies of the Malay Emergency of 1948, the United States Marine Corps Combined Action Program of 1965, and Operation Home Depot in 2002, CMO were key to success. Each highlighted the importance of taking the fight to the enemy with armed forces, but more importantly, conducting PRC and HA to "win the hearts and minds" of the population and isolate the insurgents from the population, both physically and psychologically. The dual approach of combat operations and CMO can defeat Islamist terrorism by destroying the roots of support. It can also foster democracy and capitalism through their interaction with the Muslim culture. Civil Affairs units should be assigned to conventional units down to battalion-level, and with other Special Operations Forces, to maximize their interaction with both civilians on the battlefield, and agencies that want to assist the developing nations. Additionally, they should be assigned on a permanent basis at geographic commands.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2003
Accession Number
ADA526019

Entities

People

  • Roger D. Cotton

Organizations

  • Marine Corps War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics
  • Biomedical
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Civil Rights
  • Department Of State
  • Governments
  • Interagency Coordination
  • International Organizations
  • Marine Corps Operations
  • Military Science
  • National Governments
  • National Security
  • Personnel Management
  • Political Systems
  • Psychological Operations
  • Students
  • Terrorism
  • Terrorists
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Fields of Study

  • Sociology

Readers

  • Maritime Combat Support and Expeditionary Logistics.
  • Military and Counterinsurgency Studies.
  • Political Violence and Terrorism Studies.