- Trump gives Mattis authority to send more troops to Afghanistan
By Samuel J. Ellison, Small Wars Journal: “The Oxford English Dictionary defines insurgency as “a rebellion against authority (for example, an authority recognized as such by the United Nations) when those taking part in the rebellion are not recognized as belligerents.” Defining a conflict as an insurgency is typically an act of subjection generally utilized to delegitimize the usually non-government affiliated combatants. An insurgency, unlike conventional warfare, concerns itself with legitimacy as the opposing sides are not only competing for domination of terrain, but for the support of the populace as well. The primary tactic of insurgents is guerilla warfare, the use of hit and run tactics and the ability to disappear into the local landscape. This tactic was utilized during biblical times when Judah and the Maccabees engaged the Greeks from the hills surrounding Jerusalem.”
There is no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan that is forcing record numbers of people from their homes, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday, during an unannounced visit to the war-torn country. - Reuters