"When on patrol, the marines carry a small gadget the size of an old Polaroid camera that takes fingerprints, photos and an iris scan of people they meet. It is used to build a database of the residents so they can easily spot strangers, the marines say. The Afghans accepted the imposition without protest.

"Observation on the ground, information from the populace and control of key commerce and transportation routes are all ways to prevent the Taliban from seeping back into the area, Col. Peter Petronzio, commander of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, said in an interview.

“'You need physically to be there,” he said. “You need to continue to move about the population, let your presence be known, but do it in a way so that you are not smothering and overwhelming. You have got to let life go on.'”

As I explain here and here in my Art of Coin series, the principles of counter insurgency are not complex.

Conduct a detailed census and put that information in a database.  Constantly re-confirm and add to that information.  Keep track of who is moving in and out of the area.

This is not a new concept.  The British did it with great success in Malaya 55 years ago.

When I'm in Iraq, I am frequently given briefs by Battalion or Regimental officers.  The first question I always ask is "How many people live in your area of operations?"

If they answer with a very precise number, I know they have a good census database.  If they don't know or are just putting a guestimate out, I know they don't have much of a census database.

Then I ask if I can take a look at their database.

In the areas where they have a large, detailed database, the violence has dropped or is dropping.  In the areas where they were not working on a census database--it was still a war.

Census databases are not a silver bullet solution--but the foundation of the solution.  They require time, effort and combat troops on the ground.  But once you have the census done, that data can be handed off to the follow-on unit allowing for a smoother transition between units over time and reducing the time for a new unit to learn the area.

Further reading here and here .

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