...has been dominated by insurgencies. Though the insurgents have used terror, that has only been one of the tactics employed in pursuit of their larger aims.

Colombia faced fairly small insurgencies before the 1980s. At that point, unable to mobilize popular support, the insurgents began funding their revolutions through criminal enterprises such as drug trafficking, extortion, and kidnapping. These activities proved lucrative beyond all expectations. As a consequence, the insurgents began to ignore popular mobilization completely, relying increasingly on terror to force the people to obey their will.

The combination of these factors led one of the insurgent groups, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, or FARC), to develop a strategy to take power-with several distinct phases and a number of supporting tasks to be accomplished within each phase. The war grew worse year after year, despite increases in defense spending and growth of the public security forces. It was only after the military understood the insurgent strategy and designed its own strategy to defeat this plan that the war began to turn in the government's favor.

In the end, then, no matter what the enemy is called--insurgent, terrorist, narcotrafficker, or narcoterrorist--successful counterinsurgency depends on a thorough understanding of the enemy and his real intentions. The government's response must be shaped by this understanding.

Early Lessons Learned

To counter insurgents, one must remember that they have doctrine. When captured, they have often been carrying the works of Man Tse-Tung and Truong Chinh (the Vietnamese theorist of people's war) translated into Spanish.

These insurgents were Colombians, fellow citizens, a point that should never be forgotten in internal war. After their capture, they were induced to discuss the process by which they became insurgents. Several points emerged:

* All internal wars have their deepest roots in grievances and aspirations that create a pool of individuals who can be recruited, after which the organization takes extraordinary measures to shape their worldview and keep them in the organization.

* Thus, leaders of a subversive group are the most dangerous members. Followers may be dangerous tactically, but leaders read, find ideology, and come up with "big picture" solutions...

NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.



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