The Accidental Guerrilla: Fighting Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One by David Kilcullen

Author:David Kilcullen [Kilcullen, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Tags: Genocide & War Crimes, General, pol_guide, Political Science, World, Military, History
ISBN: 9780199754090
Google: cyUCyKxPhREC
Amazon: B007F7TRU0
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2009-02-16T23:17:41+00:00

Treat local tribal irregular fighters as local allies, or a local “coalition of the willing,” not as “our new employees.” They began this rebellion because AQ tried to push them around; we had to make sure we did not make the same mistake. Local fighters were not under our command; this was “tribal diplomacy.”

Build a personal partnership relationship, based on honor and trust, with local leaders.

Expect leaders to act primarily in accordance with their group’s interests, not the leaders’ formal undertakings.

Expect overlapping and sometimes conflicting spheres of authority within tribal groups, not a military-style chain of command. One group might respond to several different sheikhs to different degrees.

Look for leaders who occupied positions of authority within several local power networks (tribe, mosque, business, governance, etc.). These were likely to be survivors who could influence others.

Be wary of nontribal Iraqis looking down on tribal sheikhs and treating them as ignorant or of no account.

Avoid pushing a sheikh to make commitments before he was sure his tribal group would support him.

Channel assistance to a tribal group through the local sheikh, in order to cement his patronage power and increase his authority, thus making it easier for him to make agreements stick.

Develop coordination mechanisms and communication channels connecting with local leaders that enabled deconfliction between local “neighborhood watch” organizations and our forces.

Work to persuade local leaders of the benefits of supporting the Iraqi government—we found we could not expect support for the government to be part of their initial motivation, which was opposition to AQ.

Expect tribal leaders to distrust Iraqi security forces to some degree, and be prepared to act in the role of honest broker in promoting cooperation between local fighters and Iraqi forces.

Develop mechanisms for handing over locals who had been detained by neighborhood watch groups, including the observance of clear human rights standards and clear standards of evidence before an individual could be taken into the hands of the Iraqi or Coalition judicial system.

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