The RAND Corporation
The Future of
Irregular Warfare 2
Before the Committee
on Armed ServicesSubcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities
United States House of Representatives
March 27, 2012
Over the past decade,
the United States has faced considerable irregular warfare challenges. Take
Afghanistan. By early 2012, there were approximately 432,000 counterinsurgency
forces in Afghanistan – approximately 90,000 U.S. soldiers, 30,000 NATO
soldiers, 300,000 Afghan National Security Forces, and 12,000 Afghan Local
Police.3 In addition, the United States spent over $100 billion per year and
deployed a range of sophisticated platforms and systems.
The Taliban, on the
other hand, deployed between 20,000 and 40,000 forces (a ratio of nearly 11 to
1 in favor of counterinsurgents) and had revenues of $100-$200 million per
year (a ratio of 500 to 1 in favor of counterinsurgents). In addition, Afghan
insurgent groups focused on a range of asymmetric strategies and tactics, from
tribal engagement to the use of improvised explosive devices and the Internet.
Yet the Taliban’s ability to utilize limited resources and sustain a prolonged
insurgency highlight some of America’s irregular warfare challenges.
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