David H. Ucko

This is a little dated but nonetheless very much worth checking out: it is an interview by  Kimberley Kagan of COL J. B. Burton, then commander of the 2nd BCT, 1st Infantry Division (Dagger Brigade). The interview covers, in some detail, the Dagger Brigade’s tour in north-west Baghdad in 2006-07. This preceded the official change in strategy under Gen. Petraeus but is, to me, an important precursor of some of the best practices of ‘the surge’.

I think that the video, the slides and the transcript together provide an excellent overview of the full complexity of conducting full-spectrum counterinsurgency operations. Given this complexity, I have immense respect for anyone able to operationalise the precepts thrown around in COIN doctrine and theory — even more so given the risks involved.

It is difficult to summarise the entire presentation, but I think the key lies in the brigade’s interpretation of its mission statement as needing to ‘break the cycle of violence’. That leads to an effort to ‘understanding the population base that we were dealing with in northwest Baghdad’ and, finally, a willingness to do what it would take to have an enduring effect there: to build new JSS, disperse among the population and operate from where it mattered, despite the very real risks and dangers involved. Well, read it and see it for yourselves.

Update: I see that parts II and III of the video don’t seem to be up anymore: what a shame. Still, the transcript is well worth a read.