# Boiling Down What PsyOps/CIMIC/PRT Contributes to COIN



## The Bread Guy (18 Nov 2009)

Interesting discussion (Reserve bashing start notwithstanding) developing at the US Army/USMC COIN Centre blog with this entry by a Canadian officer working at the Centre, who has a colleague seeking "one phrase or paragraph which will describe what CIMIC, PRTs and Psy-Ops bring to the COIN fight" - first two goes:


> War is politics by other means. COIN is local politics as war. Winning in politics and war is all about addition. CIMIC and the PRT (supported by Psy Ops) do that addition. Adding friendlies. The BG and OMLT subtract from the enemy. Well targeted Psy Ops - as part of a wider IO strategy - divide the enemy. When we hurt civilians we multiply that enemy. What we are only now starting to get is how to do the math. When we get it right we add friendlies and divide then subtract, enemies. Eventually we reach the tipping point where the enemy are seen as simply a lunatic fringe."
> 
> Carl Von Clausewitz said that, "war is politics with the addition of other means." COIN is a form of conflict that can only be won through defining political and implementing solutions. Its practice at the local level is the manifestation of the politics of war. In order to better understand the theory of COIN and the contribution of PRTs, I propose this equation. In a conflict where the people decide who wins, the political aim of COIN is to gain popular support for the host nation government; it is a war of addition. CIMIC and the PRT - supported by Psy Ops campaign – underlined by securing the population, provide that addition whether that be village-by-village or person-by-person. The Battle Group and OMLT underline security to the population and subtract from the enemy. Well targeted Psy Ops - as part of a wider IO strategy - acts as a force multiplier and acts to separate the population from the insurgents. When our actions hurt civilians we multiply that enemy in a tit for tat spiral of violence. What we are only now starting to realize is how to do the math. When we get it right, we gain the support of the population and divide them from the insurgent while subtracting enemies (those that cannot be reconciled). Eventually, if we maintain the high moral plain, maintain our legitimacy, and minimize non-combatant casualties, we will eventually exhaust the insurgents and reach the tipping point where the enemy are seen as simply a lunatic fringe."


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