#insurgency

We had been hopelessly labouring to plough waste lands; to make nationality grow in a place full of the certainty of God… Among the tribes our creed could be only like the desert grass – a beautiful swift seeming of spring; which, after a day’s heat, fell dusty. ↗

— T.E. Lawrence

#military #beauty

The problem is that you cannot prove yourself against someone who is much weaker than yourself. They are in a lose/lose situation. If you are strong and fighting the weak, then if you kill your opponent then you are a scoundrel... if you let him kill you, then you are an idiot. So here is a dilemma which others have suffered before us, and for which as far as I can see there is simply no escape. ↗

— Martin Van Creveld

#fourth-generation-warfare #change

With no other security forces on hand, U.S. military was left to confront, almost alone, an Iraqi insurgency and a crime rate that grew worse throughout the year, waged in part by soldiers of the disbanded army and in part by criminals who were released from prison. ↗

— John Spratt

#alone #army #confront #crime #crime rate

The presence of American troops is fueling the insurgency in Iraq, as acknowledged by General Casey and numerous other experts, and is helping terrorist recruiters build their numbers across the globe. ↗

— John Conyers

#across #american #american troops #build #casey

I think the central mission in Afghanistan right now is to protect the people, certainly, and that would be inclusive of everybody, and that in a, in an insurgency and a counterinsurgency, that's really the center of gravity. ↗

— Michael Mullen

#center #central #certainly #counterinsurgency #everybody

The Germans have done wonderful work. Not long ago, a German battle group battalion conducted a very impressive counterinsurgency operation in a portion of Baghlan province. I think these are the first counterinsurgency operations conducted by any German element after World War II. And they did a very impressive job. ↗

— David Petraeus

#ago #any #battalion #battle #conducted

Well, the oil, the oil spot, if you will, is a, is a term in counterinsurgency literature that connotes a peaceful area, secure area. So what you're trying to do is to always extend that, to push that out. ↗

— David Petraeus

#area #counterinsurgency #extend #literature #oil

Three years into the war, tens of thousands of American troops remain targets of a growing Iraqi insurgency. ↗

— Jan Schakowsky

#american troops #growing #insurgency #into #iraqi

The Government of Iraq also owes a debt to the American and coalition forces who are fighting the insurgency and helping put that country back together after decades of repression. ↗

— Ike Skelton

#also #american #back #coalition #coalition forces

The number of attacks on the American and allied forces is at the highest level since the insurgency began despite the increase of America combat operations and the introduction of some 40 new Iraq security forces and battalions. ↗

— Ike Skelton

#america #american #attacks #battalions #began