STABILISATION AND COUNTERINSURGENCY IN FRENCH

PRACTICES AND DOCTRINE IN AFGHANISTAN

Moral Conquest rather than Physical Conquest

Stéphane TAILLATAgrégé de l’Université

PhD candidateCentre de Recherches Interdisciplinaires en

Sciences Sociales (C.R.I.S.E.S.)

A semi-official Document

The « Chanson’s Report »

Col. Francis CHANSON; CO TF KORRIGAN, Kapissa Province

Released in August 2009

Provide an assessment and a conceptual framework of the COIN Strategy here.

1) A counterinsurgency model that seeks to integrate population security and cultural respect

1st imperative: reassessing the use of force

“The more the military activities increase, the more war tends to take root on the long run”

“Culture of war is so developed that it has become an illusion to believe that the Taliban would allow us to occupy the whole terrain. (...) We have to abandon the idea of militarily controlling the entire AO”

1) A counterinsurgency model that seeks to integrate population security and cultural respect

2nd imperative: balancing and managing conflicting demands

Coercion vs. Respect: the “deterrent ability”

Force protection vs. Pop. Protection: live amongst the people

Security vs. Development: simultaneous lines of operations in order to produce cumulative effects.

1) A counterinsurgency model that seeks to integrate population security and cultural respect

3rd imperative: the population is the main focus of the manoeuvre.

Assistance is not neutral: meet the subjective needs of the population

Have talks with the locals: be aware of and address the “threatening uncertainty”

Population at the convergence of lines of operations: produce legitimization effects.

1) A counterinsurgency model that seeks to integrate population security and cultural respect

Conclusion part 1:

Pop. Security and Development: a military priority

+: military force as a potential de-escalation producer. - : cultural respect is a mean and not an end

2) A strategy that reveals both American and French doctrinal sources

The French course of action: « secure »

Reversibility of postures in Counter-Rebellion

The colonial past: colonial “spirit”, the deterrent characteristic of force.

Individual behaviour: a military “humanism” in action?

2) A strategy that reveals both American and French doctrinal sources

A cultural integration of the US experience?

Population as the “centre of gravity”

A systemic vision of the military operations

Road construction process as an element to organise the “political manoeuvre”: the Afghanistan legacy and melting pot

Conclusion

Western isomorphism?

Population-centric approach: an improvement of human security measures inside military agency.

Doctrine: a mere legitimization tool?