A Literature Review Wrong Turn America's Counterinsurgency

1305 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Marxism leninism in vietnam

A key term to discuss is counterinsurgency. I found it interesting that prior to the 1950s; COIN theorists from France and Britain used the term counter-revolutionary warfare, whereas due to the context of America’s revolutionary history the U.S. wanted to change the name to counterinsurgency. With the advent of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a unified doctrine needed to be drafted. John Nagl, was one of the authors and stated in an officially this was not an interagency publication but it did bring, “together a mix of serving and retired military officers and a handful of civilian military scholars.” Today the definition has created a strong doctrine as such, “American counterinsurgency, as codified in Marine/Army Field Manual 3-24, is armed nation building by a foreign occupying power. The primary objective is to provide the host population an infrastructure, governance, security, local security forces, and economic improvement.”
This brings me to the discussion of Gentiles critique of Malaya, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. I argue the fact that Colonel Gian Gentile is correct with his assumptions regarding aspects of counterinsurgency aiming to win the hearts and minds of people from Iraq and Afghanistan is futile. Furthermore, Vietnam was a Maoists “Peoples War” and had the backing of the North Vietnamese, the NLF, or the PLAF. The corrupt puppet government and military of South Vietnam aided the enemy by not wanting to become part of a capitalist system, they wanted to reap the benefits of foreign aid, but not build a strong resilient Nation. Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan wars were and are unwinnable. However, with the Malayan Emergency I believe some key themes from Sir Robert Thompson’s principles were effective. Simi...

... middle of paper ...

...ideration would be population control and providing protected villages for the various ethnic tribespeople of the region. The problem with the region around Afghanistan is that there is a terrible refugee problem with displaced people because of war torn area, land mines, and other associated problems with ethnic tensions.
In conclusion, overall I agree with Gentile that nation building at the barrel of a gun is, “hypothetical, pure fantasy and the political will of the American people will not stand for this multi-generational nation building effort.” Counterinsurgency cannot be devoid of politics, people, policymakers, or military conventional and unconventional forces. The world is complicated with a delicate balance of power that can be shifted by war, natural disasters, such as drought, famine, floods, disease. It seems, however, man is his own worst enemy.

Show More
Related

  • Chris Appy's American Reckoning

    1077 Words  | 3 Pages

    Appy’s book is valuable to its readers in showing how Vietnam became the template for every American war since, from novelties like the invasion of Grenada to the seemingly never-ending conflicts post-9/11. But before all that, there was Vietnam, and, larger lessons aside, Appy’s book is a fascinating, insightful, infuriating and thought-provoking study of that conflict, from its earliest days

    Read More

  • Christian Appy's Working-Class War: American Combat Soldiers and Vietnam

    1052 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...am War is not just history but the fundamental part of our history. Therefore, it needs to be taken seriously. Only if we take it seriously, can we prevent ourselves from doing the same mistakes again. It also teaches how the war policies and authorities can blind us from the real reason behind the war. It is important to also know the enemy and plan accordingly. One can clearly see that higher technologies can go wrong when accompanied with failed strategies. Most important of the all it makes the readers reconsider their definition of just-war. Most important of all, “Working-Class War: American Combat Soldiers and Vietnam” by Christian G. Appy teaches us how education and economic advantages can help us from facing the worst.

    Read More

  • Mark Atwood Lawrence´s The Vietnam War: A Concise International History

    1155 Words  | 3 Pages

    Lawrence’s purpose in writing this book was concise and to the point. In recent history, due to the fall of the Soviet bloc, new information has been made available for use in Vietnam. As stated in the introduction, “This book aims to take account of this new scholarship in a brief, accessible narrative of the Vietnam War… It places the war within the long flow of Vietnamese history and then captures the goals and experiences of various governments that became deeply embroiled in the country during the second half of the twentieth century” (Lawrence, 3.) This study is not only about the American government and how they were involved in the Vietnam conflict, but highlights other such countries as France, China, and the Soviet Union. Lawrence goes on to say that one of his major goals in writing this book is to examine the American role in Vietnam within an international context (Lawrence, 4.) Again, this goes to show that the major purpose of Lawrence’s study included not only ...

    Read More

  • Tim O’Brien's Going After Cacciato

    568 Words  | 2 Pages

    The years 1961 to 1972 saw the American involvement in Vietnam. For a little over ten years, America sent its sons off to fight for an unknown cause in a country they knew little about. When the United States finally pulled out of Southeast Asia, many were left scratching their heads. Over 58,000 young men died without really knowing why. Although it is a work of fiction, Tim O’Brien’s Going After Cacciato expresses the views of those who spent their lives in the jungles of Vietnam.

    Read More

  • What If the Allies Had Invaded France in 1943?

    2421 Words  | 5 Pages

    Clausewitz emphasizes that “war is a branch of political activity, that it is in no sense autonomous” (Clausewitz, 605). This principle is especially applicable to the post-war period of World War II. The political struggle between the ideologies of democracy and communism would entail global focus for the next 50 years, and the events that brought about the defeat of Germany shaped the landscape of this political struggle.

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Vietnam War And American War

    826 Words  | 2 Pages

    The world’s history is majorly shaped by mega wars that happen both inside and outside the boundaries of individual nations. Almost every sovereign state in the world had to forcefully liberate itself from its colonizers and oppressors mainly through warfare. For instance, America had to fight a long and exhausting revolutionary war against the British before it could attain its independence in 1783, likewise is the fate of many other nations. It is important to understand the two distinct types of wars that exist and their implications. Guerrilla warfare and the conventional military warfare are two types of war that are very different in their execution and military approach. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the similarities and differences existing between the American war in Vietnam and the American Revolution (Vetter, 1997).

    Read More

  • The USA Should NOT Have Entered the Vietnam War

    945 Words  | 2 Pages

    Though out history, American has had its hand in conflict with other countries. Some of those conflicts have turned out into wars. Looking back at America’s “track record” with war, America has a worthy past of having its citizen’s support. Obviously the two World Wars we not controversial. The United States in the Korean War was criticized, fairly, for its strategy, but the need to defend South Korea was never questioned. In only the Vietnam War was the United States’ very participation criticized. This is such a gigantic change with prior wars that it bears study as to why it happened, and better yet, should have it happened. This paper will discuss the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War, by asking the simple question, Should have the Untied States’ gotten involved into the first place. This paper will prove that in fact, America should have not gotten involved with the Vietnam War.

    Read More

  • Counterinsurgency Galula and Trinquier Theories

    1399 Words  | 3 Pages

    Thinking historically while conducting counterinsurgency in the 21st century poses questions regarding how to develop political and strategic plans. This bibliographic essay will examine the political and military aspect of fighting counterinsurgent warfare by 20th century theorists Galula’s, “Counterinsurgency Warfare Theory and Practice” and Trinquier’s, “Counterinsurgency Warfare Theory and Practice”. Strategy in fighting guerilla wars will be discussed by comparing conflicts in battles and ideologies from the past to current day. Moreover, ways to avoid the one size fits all war mentality when combating modern day insurgents will be recommended.

    Read More

  • The Vietnam Counter-Culture

    1523 Words  | 4 Pages

    In order to give a just analysis, to give an examination of the Vietnam Counter-Culture, one would have to look to the preliminary causes, the debates and diplomacy of the youth themselves, and the reflection where this has influenced today’s youth. I am proud to say that as an American I am proud of the simple origins of the peace and love philosophy. Coupled with the causes of freedom, comes a cause for peace and love. Simply put, why can’t we be friends? Why can’t we love our neighbors in the world? Why not peace and love?

    Read More

  • Vietnam War Analysis

    692 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Vietnam: A Mistake of Western Alliance” is not the only piece of writing by Mark Atwood Lawrence about the Vietnam War. He has written two books on the topic: Assuming the Burden: Europe and the American Commitment to War in Vietnam and The Vietnam War: A Concise International History. He has also written other essays about the war and co-edited The First Vietnam War: Colonial Conflict and Cold War Crisis. He received degrees from Stanford and Yale and is a Professor of History at The University of Texas at Austin (Mark Atwood Lawrence).

    Read More

  • Justice in The Kite Runner

    1448 Words  | 3 Pages

    Afghanistan since its beginning has been a place of conflict, despair, and at times lost hope. It has been taken advantage of and lost its sense of identity, which has had a direct effect on its people, and there own sense of what justice truly is.

    Read More

  • The Cambodian Genocide

    985 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Cambodian Genocide took place from 1975 to 1979 in the Southeastern Asian country of Cambodia. The genocide was a brutal massacre that killed 1.4 to 2.2 million people, about 21% of Cambodia’s population. This essay, will discuss the history of the Cambodian genocide, specifically, what happened, the victims and the perpetrators, and the world’s response to the genocide. The Cambodian Genocide has the historical context of the Vietnam War and the country’s own civil war. During the Vietnam War, leading up to the conflicts that would contribute to the genocide, Cambodia was used as a U.S. battleground for the Vietnam War.

    Read More

  • On War by Carl Von Clausewitz

    1315 Words  | 3 Pages

    Current military leadership should comprehend the nature of war in which they are engaged within a given political frame in order to develop plans that are coherent with the desired political end state. According to Clausewitz, war is an act of politics that forces an enemy to comply with certain conditions or to destroy him through the use of violence. A nation determines its vital interests, which drives national strategy to obtain or protect those interests. A country achieves those goals though the execution of one of the four elements of power, which are diplomatic, informational, military and economical means. The use of military force...

    Read More

  • Canada Going To War Essay

    1151 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are many sociological key concepts that would relate to the war in Afghanistan. The three that I have chosen are structural social mobility, modernization theory, and gender stratification.

    Read More

  • Ethnic Conflict in Afghanistan

    1874 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the past ten years the Afghan Government has been dealing with a number of issues that have caused problems for the country, problems such as illegal drug trade, terrorism and violence. But nowadays they are fighting a problem that has long existed between people, and quite recently has taken a whole new aspect to it. Ethnic conflict is the destructive factor that has caused problems between people for generations, often leading to fights, outbreak of violence and grudge between different ethnicities.

    Read More

More about A Literature Review Wrong Turn America's Counterinsurgency

Open Document