millerscourt
I thought we were supposed to be killing the insurgents? Have I missed something here?
You may well have missed the evolution of COIN doctrine from bitter experience (or having forgotton the previous lessons of Malaya etc). Our role is not to kill insurgents but to assist in the provision of a political settlement that will lead to stability. Just killing every insurgent is counter-productive to this aim.
Joint Doctrine Publication 3-40 Security and Stabilisation: The Military Contribution (published on the internet) provides more context - some relevent quotes:
The military may have been guilty, too, of failing to appreciate the wider contributions made to stabilisation by civil agencies. Stabilisation campaigns require endurance and patience. At times observing and shaping, rather than engaging in aggressive operations, may be the best approach. This can be difficult for a military which expects to deliver rapid, ideally decisive results; just one of the paradoxes that these types of conflict present.
Militaries have a bias for high-tempo, kinetic operations to defeat the enemy. Such approaches, critical to success in war, can be counter-productive in stabilisation. Properly applied force, however, can gain moral and physical ascendancy over an adversary. As operations to secure the support of the people must necessarily be conducted amongst them, risk that would normally be mitigated by the use of force may be unavoidable. The consequences of collateral damage can erode any advantage gained by a military strike against a hostile group. Commanders will need to manage this risk by balancing three competing demands: limiting military casualties by stand-off and high levels of force protection; engaging with the population in order to develop understanding and trust; and implanting in the mind of the adversary a sense of personal risk and uncertainty.
It is better to modify behaviour by coercion than by using force. This needs a subtle combination of threats and incentives that allows the commander to retain control without losing the initiative or public support. Demonstrations of force, without resorting to its use, can also have a powerful deterrent effect. This may allow us to secure areas without fighting.