Todd Greentree's seven principles for the next time we get mixed up in a small war

Todd Greentree, who served as
director of the RC-South initiatives group in Kandahar during 2010-2011, offers
these recommendations in an article in the Journal of Strategic Studies:

(1) Prepare above all to assist a government
through political action and economic development while helping it protect its
population from security threats, without taking the job over.

(2) Commit early and decisively, but for the
long-term, with clear political and military aims; trying to combat an
industrial strength insurgency is much harder, takes longer, and is likely to
be unsustainable.

(3) Create organizational arrangements tailored to
the specific situation and scale of threat, and are capable
of adapting rapidly.

(4) Establish clear lines of authority sufficient
to achieve unity of effort, while maximizing unity of command the closer the
situation is to war.

(5) Integrate civilian and military efforts at all
levels.

(6) In pursuing campaign plans and programs
maintain focus on political purpose.

(7) Educate a cadre of civilian and military officials
from multiple organizations and elaborate a shared civil-military doctrine.