Insurgency Likened to Disease in Body

In a unique perspective on counterinsurgency, Stanley McChrystal, the former commander of ISAF, likened an insurgency to a disease affecting the body. In the article he is quoted as saying that an insurgency, in the beginning, is not really noticed - just as a disease is not viewed as serious in its beginning stages. He then adds that sometimes COIN practices are not implemented soon enough to seriously combat the insurgency. This, of course, is a direct parallel to the history of the U.S. involvement in conducting counterinsurgency in Afghanistan. Read the article in "General Says Counterinsurgency Like Immune System", Epoch Times, December 23, 2013.