British units acted as support for the US assault. Photo from The TelegraphFrom UPI:
LONDON, July 20 (UPI) -- A new strategic study has spotlighted different approaches adopted by British and U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan to confront armed opponents and the tensions created over the differences, publishers for the Kingston University-led research said Monday.
"Hearts and Minds? British Counterinsurgency from Malaya to Iraq," a special issue of the Journal of Strategic Studies, said the different approaches favored by British and U.S. commanders in Iraq had become a "hot topic" because the military allies looked at ways of combating insurgents from divergent perspectives. The journal is published in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England.
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My Comment: Hearts and minds may be an ideal approach to counter insurgency .... but I agree with the report's conclusions that every situation is different, and what applied to one war may not necessarily apply to another.
As for the Brits counter insurgency campaign in Malaya .... they may have focused on a "hearts and minds" approach, but they were also brutal and very coercive when it came to using their military might. The Mau-Maus in Kenya and many in Northern Ireland can attest to that.