Essay: Analyzing specific points in Counterinsurgency Warfare

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This essay Analyzes specific points in David Galula’s book Counterinsurgency Warfare.

The Availability of a Cause

The British administration had a certain bad reputation in the colonies. Although Acts passed by the British parliament such as a ‘Stamp Act’ were widely seen as exploitative and there were a few mass protests against various avenues of collecting revenue adopted by the British and the quartering of troops in some areas however once the contrary to the popular perception, the major part of the population of the colonies remained neutral throughout the conflict, supporting neither the British and nor the revolutionaries, quietly carrying out their business regardless of what government held sway over them (Grant, 1995).

According to the founding father and second president of the United States John Adams claimed only one-third of the population of the states supported the revolution, one-third remained loyal to the British and the remaining adopted neutrality in the conflict (Sparshott, 2007). Later researchers, however, have estimated that the supporters of the British rule or ‘loyalists’ formed 15 to 20 percent of the adult white males while the revolutionaries were supported by 40-45 percent of the white population (Grant, 1995).

Even when the war against the British was in full swing the largest part of the population was either lukewarm or opposed to total independence from Britain, in any case they were unwilling to commit themselves to any side and were waiting to see which side became the winner, the defeat of the British at the Battle of Saratoga in 1777, followed by the hopes of French support with the Franco-American alliance brought many of the fence-sitters toward the patriot camp (Sparshott, 2007).

Weakness of the Counter Insurgent

The British had managed to alienate a large section of the colonial elite. One of the biggest causes of this alienation was the Quebec act which denied white colonialists access to the Native American lands of the Ohio valley. Wealthy colonialists, including many of the founding fathers had hoped to drive the Native Americans from the area and make a lot of money by engaging in land speculation (Schofield, 2002).

The British failed to integrate the colonial elite in the administration of the colonies, the colonial elite were classically educated gentlemen whose ideal models of governance came from the city states of ancient Greece (Constant, 1988). These rejected members of the elite class provided the leadership for the American Revolution.

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