FEATURES Five Rules of Counterinsurgency

Government Executive January 1, 2007

A former French officer and veteran of the Algerian War, David Galula, laid out five laws of counterinsurgency:

  1. The objective is the population.
  2. The population's support is not spontaneous, it must be organized and it only comes from the minority that supports the counterinsurgent.
  3. The minority will emerge only if the counterinsurgent is seen as the ultimate victor. If he is irresolute or incompetent, he will never find enough supporters.
  4. The counterinsurgent will never have enough troops to cover the entire country, and will be forced to concentrate his efforts area by area.
  5. The population's loyalty is dictated by the answer to these questions: Which side is going to win? Which side threatens the most, and which offers the most protection?

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FEATURES Five Rules of Counterinsurgency
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