History has shown that the best way to end an insurgency is to bring insurgents or potential insurgents into the political system.
It came under attack, however, when the Administration's predictions about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and the potential for insurgency failed to be realized, and the Pentagon civilians were widely accused of politicizing intelligence.
The government's intelligence agencies say that the protesters represent the core of a potential guerrilla insurgency and that they are at least loosely connected to Colombia's rebels or international narcotics traffickers seeking to stir up trouble in this part of northwest Argentina.
The Pentagon all but ignored the State Department's postwar plans, compiled by its Future of Iraq project, which warned not only of looting but also of the potential for insurgencies and the folly of relying on exiles such as Ahmad Chalabi; the project's head, Thomas Warrick, was sidelined.
So the potential for an insurgency fuelled, among other things, by rising opium output was overlooked.
The country's Islamist opposition is split between the Brotherhood and looser networks of Salafis, a division that limits the potential of any insurgency that either faction might mount.
The potential of guerrilla insurgency, demonstrated in Tito's resistance to the Nazis and especially in the postwar victories of Mao, the Viet Minh, and Castro, made it the preferred mode for revolutionary action around the world.
Compared with Iraq, and Mr. Negroponte's tenure there, Ms. Harman said, "This theater won't have the same physical threats, but it has some of the same potential for political insurgencies".
"The government has this region marked as a place that has the potential to create another insurgency," he said.
The government in Dakar now says that the potential spread of Islamist insurgency into the country demands heightened security measures.
