JSOU Report 19-2 Support to Resistance: Strategic Purpose and Effectiveness Irwin Purpose to Resistance: Strategic Effectiveness Support and 19-2 Report JSOU JOINT SPECIAL OPERATIONS UNIVERSITY Serbian Otpor symbol of the movement which ousted Milosevic in Serbia and subsequently became a model for all student revolutionary movements worldwide. CREDIT: By Le serbe - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia. org/w/index.php?curid=14240808 This monograph is the first in a planned series of three volumes that will provide Special Operations Forces (SOF) with an in-depth study of resistance movements. Mr. Will Irwin provides a wealth of case studies focused on the United States Government’s support to resistance movements. For each of his case studies the author summarizes in a clear, concise manner the duration of U.S. support, the political environments or conditions, the type of operation, the purpose or objective of U.S. support, and the ultimate outcome: success, partial success, failure, or an inconclusive outcome. Unfold- ing world events are indicative of the need for SOF to maintain and enhance traditional unconventional warfare (UW) skills, but those skills must be assessed in the context of modern resistance movement dynamics. This work will serve as a benchmark reference on resistance movements for the benefit of the special operations community and its civilian leadership. Support to Resistance: Joint Special Operations University Strategic Purpose and Effectiveness 7701 Tampa Point Boulevard MacDill AFB, FL 33621 Will Irwin https://jsou.libguides.com/jsoupublications Foreword by Lieutenant General John F. Mulholland, Jr. JSOU Report 19-2 ISBN 978-1-941715-37-6 Joint Special Operations University Scott M. Guilbeault, Colonel, U.S. Air Force, Acting President Michael C. McMahon, Dean, College of Special Operations Robert Nalepa, Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Air Force, Ret., Editor in Chief Lisa Sheldon, B.A., Advertising, JSOU Press Editor Joint Special Operations University and the Resident Senior Fellows Center for Strategic Studies Peter McCabe, Ph.D., Political Science, Colonel, U.S. Air Force, Ret. Will Irwin, MMAS, Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army, Ret. The Joint Special Operations University (JSOU) provides its publications Paul Lieber, Ph.D., Mass Communication & Public Affairs to contribute toward expanding the body of knowledge about joint special David Ellis, Ph.D., International Relations, Comparative Politics operations. JSOU publications advance the insights and recommendations Christopher Marsh, Ph.D., Political Science of national security professionals and the Special Operations Forces (SOF) students and leaders for consideration by the SOF community and defense leadership. JSOU is the educational component of the United States Special Opera- tions Command (USSOCOM), MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. The mission of JSOU is to prepare SOF to shape the future strategic environment by pro- viding specialized joint professional military education (PME), developing SOF-specific undergraduate and postgraduate-level equivalent curriculum, and by fostering special operations research, analysis, and outreach in support of the USSOCOM objectives. JSOU conducts research through its Center for Strategic Studies (CSS) where efforts center upon the USSOCOM mission: USSOCOM mission. USSOCOM develops and employs fully capable Spe- cial Operations Forces to conduct global special operations and activities as part of the Joint Force to support persistent, networked, and distributed Combatant Commands operations and campaigns against state and non- state actors, to protect and advance U.S. policies and objectives. Press publications are available for download from the JSOU Library web page located at https://jsou.libguides.com/jsoupublications. Support to Resistance: Strategic Purpose and Effectiveness Will Irwin Foreword by Lieutenant General John F. Mulholland, Jr., U.S. Army, Ret. JSOU Report 19 -2 The JSOU Press MacDill Air Force Base, Florida 2019 Comments about this publication are invited and should be forwarded to the Director of the Center for Strategic Studies, Joint Special Operations University, 7701 Tampa Point Blvd., MacDill AFB, FL 33621. ******* The JSOU Center for Strategic Studies (CSS) is currently accepting written works relevant to special operations for potential publication. For more information, please contact the CSS Director at [email protected]. Thank you for your interest in the JSOU Press. ******* This work was cleared for public release; distribution is unlimited. April 2019 ISBN 978-1-941715-37-6 The views expressed in this publication are entirely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views, policy, or position of the United States Government, Department of Defense, United States Special Operations Command, or the Joint Special Operations University. Recent Publications of the JSOU Press Political Strategy in Unconventional Warfare: Opportunities Lost in Eastern Syria and Preparing for the Future, JSOU Report 19-1, Carole A. O’Leary and Nicholas A. Heras ISIS 2.0: South and Southeast Asia Opportunities and Vulnerabilities, JSOU Report 18-6, Namrata Goswami Countering Transregional Terrorism, JSOU Report 18-5, edited by Peter McCabe The Enemy is Us: How Allied and U.S. Strategy in Yemen Contributes to AQAP’s Survival, JSOU Report 18-4, Norman Cigar Complexity, Organizational Blinders, and the SOCOM Design Way, JSOU Report 18-3, David C. Ellis and Charles N. Black Advancing SOF Cultural Engagement: The Malinowski Model for a Qualitative Approach, JSOU Report 18-2, Robert R. Greene Sands and Darby Arakelian On the cover. Members of FOB 103 attach northwest to Kirkuk. SOURCE: USASOC HISTORY OFFICE, HISTORY SUPPORT CENTER, FORT BRAGG, NC/RELEASED. Back cover. Serbian Otpor symbol of the movement, which ousted Milosevic in Serbia and subsequently became a model for all student revolutionary movements worldwide, it is characterized by the use of internet and wear long-term system in place. CREDIT: By Le serbe - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia. org/w/index.php?curid=14240808. Contents From the Dean .............................................................................vii Foreword .......................................................................................ix About the Author .........................................................................xiii Acknowledgments ........................................................................xv Introduction ................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1. Support to Resistance as a Tool of Disruption ............. 17 Chapter 2. Support to Resistance as a Tool of Coercion .............. 123 Chapter 3. Support to Resistance to Enable Regime Change ...... 157 Chapter 4. Conclusion ............................................................... 179 Appendix ................................................................................... 186 Acronyms .................................................................................. 189 Endnotes .................................................................................... 195 v From the Dean his monograph is the first in a planned series of three volumes that Twill provide Special Operations Forces (SOF) with an in-depth study of resistance movements. In this first monograph of the series, Support to Resistance, Mr. Will Irwin provides a wealth of case studies focused on the United States Government’s support to resistance movements. For each of his case studies the author summarizes in a clear, concise manner the duration of U.S. support, the political environments or conditions, the type of opera- tion, the purpose or objective of U.S. support, and the ultimate outcome: success, partial success, failure, or an inconclusive outcome. Unfolding world events are indicative of the need for SOF to maintain and enhance traditional unconventional warfare (UW) skills, but those skills must be assessed in the context of modern resistance movement dynamics. What changes must be made to education and training? How should doctrine be adjusted? How does the SOF community develop the next generation of UW warriors and leaders? This work will establish a foundation of knowledge upon which the reader may contemplate such questions. The JSOU College of Special Operations is pleased to welcome retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General Mulholland’s contribution and foreword. I believe this to be a seminal work on the subject and, combined with the forthcom- ing volumes in the author’s series, will serve as benchmark references on resistance movements for the benefit of the special operations community and its civilian leadership. Michael C. McMahon Dean, College of Special Operations vii Foreword was asked by Mr. Will Irwin, the author of the following monograph, to I write a foreword for his important and valuable work, Support to Resis- tance. As a career Army Special Forces officer, I was happy to assist a fellow special forces comrade, particularly since the scope of the monograph incor- porates the foundational mission of Army Special Forces, unconventional warfare (UW). Through an exhaustive research that included a review of more than 800 declassified National Security Council-level documents from 13 presidential administrations, Mr. Irwin’s Support to Resistance provides a valuable recounting assessment of policy decisions by the United States Gov- ernment (USG) to support resistance movements around