Unconventional warfare to counter insurgency : U.S. army special forces in contemporary combat

Abstract

Recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have shown that the United States military is still the most dominant force when it comes to fighting conventional battles. However, when faced with a different type of war, an unconventional war, it is clear that the conventional structure and focus of the U.S. military is not able to fight successfully in this manner. It is argued here that in order for the U.S. to be successful in these unconventional conflicts it must rely more on its units that have been trained for this type of ambiguous conflicts, also known as insurgencies. U.S. Army Special Forces are the most suitable units because they are trained in the cultural specifics of regions, have local language knowledge, and are able to work with indigenous forces. All of these capabilities are non-violent, which is of the utmost importance in politically sensitive conflicts such as insurgencies.