Afghanistan: A Model for Insider Attacks and Infiltration

For much of the past decade, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have commanded much of the U.S. military's attention. But as those conflicts gradually end, the United States increasingly is engaging other areas throughout the world, such as Africa and the Asia-Pacific region, and Washington will try to enhance its counterinsurgency and counterterrorism advisory presence in those areas accordingly.

With that presence comes the possibility of insider attacks, often referred to as green-on-blue attacks, which occur when an indigenous soldier, for whatever reason, attacks the occupying military. In some instances, these attacks stem from personal or cultural disputes. Other times these attacks result from infiltration, the process by which an enemy combatant joins an occupying or domestic military for ulterior reasons (or is corrupted once already in). The ultimate objective of infiltration-related insider attacks is to divide foreign and local troops and hasten the foreigners' withdrawal. The war in Afghanistan showed just how effective these types of attacks could be and how badly they could undermine missions, like NATO's, that focus on training and joint force.  

Emboldened by the success of green-on-blue attacks, insurgents in other countries may model their tactics after those used in Afghanistan. However, the security situation in Afghanistan is so unique that it would be difficult to replicate in insurgencies elsewhere. But given the attacks' effectiveness, they must be accounted for by an occupying force working side-by-side with an indigenous force.