Phil Walter's Five Rules for Counterinsurgency from a U.S. Perspective | Small Wars Journal

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1. Don't do counterinsurgency. Better to let the insurgents win and then engage their newly-formed country in state-on-state warfare, a U.S. strength, than to play the game the insurgent prefers.

2. If you choose to engage in counterinsurgency, your local partner must be credible in the eyes of the population. If your local partner is not credible in the eyes of the population, your efforts will only delay the inevitable insurgent victory and waste your blood and treasure in the process.

3. The credible local partner must give the population something to fight for more than something to fight against.

4. The control exerted by your forces and that of the credible local partner must utilize the highest levels of discretion and be done in a way that is compatible with the culture.

5. Deny safe haven by removing all borders from all maps associated with the counterinsurgency campaign and pursuing the insurgents wherever they may be."