[Roguish Lawyer]

[continued from previous post]

To begin to understand the nature of an insurgency, we must

understand the environment in which that insurgency is born. Most

insurgencies develop in the furtile ground of emerging nations. As

the world passed through the Industrial Revolution and is now in the


midst of the Technological Revolution, many nations are struggling

toward becoming economically and socially advanced nations with

efficient, popularly supported governments. To accomplish these

goals, these nations must overcome handicaps which are characteristic

of an underdeveloped society. These handicaps include: a static

economy, limited technology, immobile social structure, and rule by

custom and traditional process. (5: 1) The early stages toward

development are expensive and do not always result in benefits which

are tangible to the people. The speed with which the modern media

spreads information and ideas has created rising expectations, causing

people to be impatient for immediate, visble evidence of progress.

The process of modernization brings societal and psychological turmoil

which creates exploitable conditions for those who seek power or the

redress of social grievances.



The insurgent leadership uses the unsatisfactory conditions that

cause discontentment among the people as the rallying point of the

insurgency. The leadership provides the vision, direction, guidance,

coordination, and organizational coherence that focuses political and

military actions. In order to be successful, the leaders must gain

popular support by establishing the credibility of their movement.

They must break the ties of the people with the government, replacing

the government's legitimacy with that of their own. (4: 2-2)



Some insurgent organizations depend on a single leader with a

charismatic personality to provide cohesion, motivation, and a

rallying point for the movement. Single leadership organizations can

produce decisions and initiate new action rapidly, but are vulnerable


to disruption by removing this key leader. Other insurgencies

de-emphasize individual personalities, basing their success on a group

of leaders. Collective leadership is more resilient to change due to

the distribution of the responsibility for making decisions; however,

they are more vulnerable to penetration.



Regardless of the number of individuals leading the insurgency,

knowledge of their education, background, family, social connections,

and experiences will provide insight into how they think, what they

want, and how they will fulfill their goals. Insurgent leaders study

the masters of their trade. They read the works of Sun Tzu, Mao,

Lenin, Giap, Guevarra, and other revolutionary leaders. Often a

preference is shown toward a particular revolutionary leader and his

strategy. To properly analyze the nature of an insurgency we must

understand the functions of the leadership, identify how the

leadership is organized, and know the personalities, aspirations,

politics, and ideologies of those leaders.



The next aspect of an insurgency that requires our awareness is the

ideology that guides the insurgents in offering their society a goal.

The insurgency must have a program or a body of ideas that explains

what is wrong with the present political and social system, and how

the new insurgent government will remedy these deficiencies. (4: 2-2)

Revolutionary ideolgy following World War II centered around

nationalism (anticolonialism). Communist inspired insurgencies label

their ideology as `Wars of National Liberation' or revolts against

imperialism.


The insurgent leadership selects an ideology that has great

appeal to important sectors of society in order to win their support.

Ideological conflicts within the movement create a vulnerability that

can be exploited by the government; therefore, the insurgency's future

plans must be vague enough for broad appeal and specific enough to

address important issues. Additionaly, insurgents will likely project

some ambiguity to accommodate differences in aims among the various

groups within the society. It is difficult to sort through the

ideological machinations of an insurgent movement; however, we must

attempt to distinguish the true ideals that fuel the movement from

propaganda. By analyzing ideology we can gain a better understanding

of the insurgency's objectives.



The insurgency can be considered as a nation at war. The

leadership establishes strategic objectives that give focus to both

political and military action. The strategic objective is the

insurgent's desired end state. This end state goes beyond the

overthrow of the existing government and addresses how the new

insurgent government will use its power to accomplish specific social,

economic, and political reforms. The polictical aim or end state of

any insurgency forms the structural basis for all else that occurs

during its course.



The fact that insurgencies have strategic objectives, highlights

the aspect of total war against the existing government with its focus

of effort directed at the political-social institutions. Political

mobilization, psychological warfare, propaganda, and terrorism are

major weapons of revolutionary conflicts. Armed conflict is important


but it is primarily an adjunct to the major struggle. Political

mobilizers and cadres are more important, in the long run, than

battlefield soldiers.



Operational objectives are those intermediate goals pursued as

part of the overall process of destroying government legitmacy and

progressively establishing the desired end state. Some common

operational objectives include: (4: 2-3)



- Isolation of the government from diplomatic and material

support, and increased international support for the insurgency.

- Destruction of the self-confidence of the government's leaders

and armed forces, causing them to abdicate or withdraw.

- Destruction of the government's credibility and authority.

(Political and military actions are designed to throw the government

off balance, cause panic in the population, and dislocate the

economy.)

- Establishment of civil services and administration in areas

under insurgent control.

- Capture of the support (or neutrality) of critical segments of

the population.



Within the framework of the operational objectives, the

insurgents establish tactical objectives or the immediate aims of

insurgent action. Achieving these immediate aims leads to

accomplishment of operational goals. Tactical objectives can be

psychological in nature, such as the distribution of propaganda

leaflets. Tactical objectives of a physical nature may include


capture or destruction of a key facility.



The objectives established by the insurgency influence the

development of certain organizational and operational patterns. These

patterns or forms of insurgency have been described in many ways.

However described, we need to appreciate that each insurgency is

unique and will not follow one model exclusively. FM 100-20 proposes

four general patterns: (4: 2-5)


- Subversive.
- Critical-cell.
- Mass-oriented.
- Traditional.

[continued next post]