Abstract As the battle to contain the insurgency in Afghanistan continues, it is important that the current generation of soldiers, and their leaders, thoroughly understand the principle of distinction and the legal concepts that makes one person a legal target and another not. Current international law recognises only two categories of persons with respect to conflict: combatants and civilians. This article analyses relevant international law and clarifies what has become a confused and often …

Sergeant Paul Dehnert enlisted into the Australian Army in 1992, serving initially in Ordnance Corps. He transferred in 1996 to Infantry and has served with the 5/7th and 7th Battalions of the Royal Australian Regiment, and also as an instructor in Rifleman Wing at the School of Infantry. He has served operationally on numerous deployments, the most recent of which was to Afghanistan as a Platoon Mentor within the OMLT as part of the First Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force. He is currently posted to …

Abstract This article discusses the unconventional thoughts of H John Poole and his advocacy of small teams as the key to success in counterinsurgency conflict, and whether with modification they may find application in our own ongoing counterinsurgency effort in Uruzgan. Introduction The ADF is currently entering its ninth year of the ongoing campaign to eliminate terrorist safe havens and assist in the removal of a resurgent Taliban in order to create a democratic Islamic state in Afghanistan under the …

Captain Tim Tiller joined the Australian Regular Army in 1999, in which he attended the Australian Defence Force Academy to graduate with a Bachelor of Science. He was allocated to the Royal Australian Armoured Corps after graduating from the Royal Military College in 2002. Upon completion of his Regimental training, Captain Tiller was appointed as a tank troop leader in the 1st Armoured Regiment, where he remained as a squadron second in command until 2006. He was posted to the School of Armour in 2007, …

Abstract Any suggestion of the employment of Australian tanks in Afghanistan is frequently confronted with the sentiment that tanks are not applicable in the counterinsurgency environment. This sentiment, however, is historically inaccurate. The experiences of the Canadians and the Danes in their employment of tanks in Afghanistan highlight the impressive effectiveness of tanks in the combined arms environment in a counterinsurgency. Regardless, the topic is plagued by multiple fallacious theories. As a …

Peter Charles Choharis (choharis@choharisglobalsolutions.com) is a principal in Choharis Global Solutions and an adjunct scholar at the American Security Project and George Washington University Law School. … Peter Charles Choharis …

After eight years of war, more than 907 Americans dead and 4,400 wounded, and $227 billion in aid from the United States alone, Afghanistan was “deteriorating” badly, according to the NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) commander, General Stanley McChrystal, in an August 2009 report to the Secretary of Defense. 1 Although General McChrystal has been more optimistic of late, the fact remains that the Taliban’s reach is more extensive now than at any time since being expelled from Kabul eight …

Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.) James A Gavrilis (jim@thegavrilisgroup.com) served for 24 years in the US Army and is a senior adviser at the Center for Naval Analyses. … James A Garvrilis …

Commander Stephen P Ferris is a reserve Supply Corps officer currently assigned to the Logistics Directorate of the US Joint Staff. He is a graduate of the US Army Command and General Staff College, The Joint Forces Staff College, the US Navy War College and the US Army War College. He also holds a BA from Duquesne University, and a MBA and Ph.D from the University of Pittsburgh. His previous assignments emphasised expeditionary logistics and transportation. In civilian life he holds the Rogers Chair of …

Abstract This article operationalises the concept of strategic risk as originally developed by Lykke as an imbalance between ends, ways and means. It explains how non-congruence between any pair of these elements can produce strategic or operational risk. The author develops the new concepts of aspirational, design and menu risk to illustrate how planning risk occurs. Various historical examples demonstrate how these risks can be identified and what techniques are available for their mitigation. The author …