The U.S. has been accused of establishing irregular forces in the past, without Kabul's consent.
But against dispersed irregular forces, they may well be more dangerous to those firing them.
Much of Colombia is uninhabited, and much of that territory is in the hands of antigovernment irregular forces.
That, in turn, has prompted a boom in demand for small arms from freelance traders and irregular forces.
"The regime and its irregular forces will feel the backlash, " the officials said.
In addition, Iran maintains sizable irregular forces in several different organizations, in addition to its international brethren Hezbollah and Hamas.
It is equally difficult to train irregular forces, much less terrorist groups, and to employ them effectively against high-end conventional capabilities.
It is clear now, if it was not before, that the irregular forces of both left and right are linked to the drug trade.
Through the war, Israel secured its maritime rights in the Suez Canal and weakened significantly Egypt's regular and irregular forces in Sinai and Gaza.
They must have been at the golf course when their generals in Iraq and Afghanistan warned them about Iran providing weapons and training to irregular forces killing US servicemen.
When it came to balancing this priority against the interests of active participants in conflict, especially irregular forces who for tactical reasons choose to go "underground" and not distinguish themselves from civilians, the Geneva Conventions clearly favored the non-combatant.
For this reason, of fundamental importance to humanitarian law, the Geneva Conventions limited combatant status and prisoner-of-war protections only to those irregular forces that (1) wear uniforms, (2) carry their arms openly in all military operations, and (3) obey the laws of war.
The British today estimated that there were 400 irregular Iraqi forces still fighting hard.
Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) maintains that all "irregular" forces must disarm and disband if the territory is to heal its divisions and build a new civil society.
"Irregular or special forces are increasingly calling the shots, " he said.
On the afternoon of March 26th, just six days into the war, he stood on the outskirts of Najaf with Rick Atkinson, the journalist and military historian, and observed combat involving irregular Iraqi fedayeen forces.
As Secretary of Defense, how would you direct U.S. forces to respond to Iranian irregular activities in those theaters?
Bob Scales (Ret.) tells Robert Siegel that the enemy in Iraq has evolved, even as U.S. forces have improved their defenses against irregular attackers operating anonymously in small units and employing suicide and roadside bombs.
Mr. Karzai was a fierce opponent of plans to establish the Afghan Local Police irregular, community-based fighting units that are trained and mentored by U.S. Special Operations Forces.
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