War & Health

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending a talk given by Colonel Peter Mansoor. Col. Mansoor is a member of Petreus’ inner circle and has been influential in the development of the US Army’s counterinsurgency doctrine. Mansoor is also an architect of the surge strategy in Iraq and recently published Baghdad at Sunrise: A Brigade Commander’s War in Iraq, an analysis of counterinsurgency in Iraq from a mid-level officer.

During the questions and answer section I asked the Colonel what was the role of providing health and social services in modern counterinsurgency doctrine. He took the (very reasonable) position that the primary concern of civilian populations is security. That is, without security, nothing else matters. However, once a certain level of security has been established, the population looks for the provision of services (including health services). In this ’second stage’, of counterinsurgency the provision of health services plays a major role in winning hearts and minds. Mansoor’s position is that Iraq was just barely in this second stage.

I agree with Mansoor, but believe the effect is more nuanced. The two stages (security and services) are not firmly separated. Rather, as the population gradually feels less security needs, people begin to look for the provision of services.