Defection: A Military Strategy for Wars of Liberation

Though defection is not new or foreign to American military strategy, a lack of acceptance exists. Can this lack of acceptance be attributed to the synonymity of desertion and defection? Drawing upon the American Revolutionary War, American Civil War, Philippine Insurgency, Malayan Emergency and Vietnam, the author examines defection as a tool to combat insurgencies. The basic questions about defection are first, are the losses through defection indicative of a major weakness of the enemy in wars of liberation; and second, does the United States have a policy, supporting doctrine and techniques, fixed responsibility and general acceptance of an induced defection strategy?