text: Assessments
  time-consuming process that is difficult to perform properly and effectively. Counterinsurgents must assess
  not only their own actions or inactions, but also those of insurgents and the population. In understanding
  these actions and inactions, counterinsurgents must have a thorough knowledge of the history and culture
  of their areas of operations. These assessments must include, among many other factors, the context for any
  given situation, the perceptions of those involved, and the possible outcomes of actions or inactions.
  12-12. Commanders are responsible for assessments. The commander’s direct and personal involvement
  in the assessment process is critical. Moreover, assessments must contain both subjective and objective
  elements. Assessments combine elements of science and art. They are not simply a collection of numbers
  or indicators. Commanders and staffs must understand assessments in the context of the overall campaign,
  not just from a military perspective.
  12-13. Countering an insurgency most often involves an extended campaign. Counterinsurgents must
  assess actions or inactions broadly, to include how they are viewed locally, within the multinational force
  (if one exists), host nation, and the region. Counterinsurgents also assesses actions against host-nation
  strategic goals. Without the backing of each of these levels, counterinsurgents risk loss of legitimacy and
  potential failure.
  12-14. Eliminating the root causes of an insurgency is the goal of a counterinsurgency. Assessment must
  focus on those activities and actions that are most important in addressing these root causes. Assessment
  must be focused on gathering the right information needed to understand what to do. The commander must
  determine if counterinsurgents are doing things right, if counterinsurgents are doing the right things, and if
  change is necessary.
  12-15. Balanced assessments include information from all relevant and objective sources, including both
  quantitative and qualitative data. This data includes the proper combination of centralized and decentralized
  reporting. A balanced assessment includes countering opinions and data that contradict overall findings. A
  combination of quantitative and qualitative types of indicators reduces the chance of misconstruing trends.
  12-16. No assessment will ever show all the aspects of a counterinsurgency campaign. Efforts to show all
  aspects of a counterinsurgency waste resources and place unrealistic demands on subordinate units that
  often result in falsified reporting. Assessment should rely principally on information gathered through
  ongoing intelligence and operational reporting. Demands for additional reporting should be minimized.
  12-17. There is no substitute for seeing a battlefield as a means for understanding a situation. Battlefield
  circulation is critical to establishing relationships between commanders at all levels. The view of a
  commander who daily walks and lives in a particular area of operations provides a level of insight that no
  statistic or report can replace. These first-hand encounters provide commanders a lens with which to review
  and compare centralized reports and trend analysis with the intuition and local understanding of
  subordinate commands.
  12-18. Collecting, assembling, and analyzing information is a time and labor-intensive process.
  Commanders balance time and resources for assessment just as they do across the planning, decision, and
  execution continuum. To help achieve this balance, commanders and staffs ask the following questions:
  * What must be understood to begin planning?
  * What will be assessed and to what detail?
  * How will a particular task, objective, end state condition, or assumption be assessed?
  * What measures of effectiveness and measures of performance will be used?
  * What information requirements (indicators) are needed to support a particular assessment?
  * Who on the staff has primary responsibility for assessing a particular area?
  * What is the collection plan?
  * How can the host nation help?
  * How can the other agencies of the U.S. government assist?
  DEVELOPING MEASUREMENT CRITERIA
  12-19. Assessment requires determining why and when progress is being achieved along each line of
  effort. Traditionally, commanders use discrete quantitative and qualitative measurements to evaluate