Don't Leave Counter-Insurgency to the Military (Essay‪)‬

Editor's Note: A retired CIA official and frequent contributor to this journal, gives us some advice on how not to conduct counter-insurgency operations.--Ed. The old saw tells us "one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter". But that really isn't true. A terrorist is a terrorist and an insurgent, or freedom fighter, is an insurgent. If we are able to stick to labeling them on the basis of what they actually do, rather than what we think they represent, we will be able to keep them straight and stand a much better chance of dealing effectively with terrorism.