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I come not to praise COIN but to bury it. And to ask you why we adopted it,...
Summary: As our foreign wars slowly continue — withdrawals in the main theaters plus expansion into other even more fruitless conflicts — it’s time to look back and learn. Today we ask why COIN was...
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Choose to follow those who were right about our wars, or those who were wrong
Summary: Each major decision point for a great nation is an intelligence test of its people. As is the decision to re-involve ourselves in Iraq. The architects of the failed war urge action, based on...
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Return of the COIN-istas (the zombies of military theory)
Summary: John Quiggin writes about zombie economics, theories false but too politically useful to die. COIN is an example of zombie military theory. In the 60 years since Mao brought 4GW to maturity,...
View ArticleA wonderful discussion about the American Empire
Tweet Here is a wonderful discussion of how American security has mutated into an American Empire. Seldom are actual threats to America discussed. Threats to American hegemony are presumed to be...
View ArticleAre we blind, or just incurious about important news?
Tweet The strongest impression I get from reading our major news media is their lack of curiosity. If they were to see an elephant walking down Constitution Avenue, they would remark briefly about...
View ArticleToday’s volleys in the domestic battle about Afghanistan
Tweet The battle continues, and heats up. Prominent people are chaning sides. Others double down, advocating that we expand the war. The stakes are high. Is the public paying attention? Contents...
View ArticleThe three kinds of advocacy for the Af-Pak War
Tweet Summary: After years of conditioning, advocates of the Af-Pak can trot out the most shoddy reasoning without fear of ridicule. When reading these things we should chant the mantra of the 21st...
View ArticleAnother sad little bit of agitprop, this time from John Nagl
Tweet The debate last Fall about the strategic purpose of the Af-Pak war produced one result: the war’s advocates learned the American people will swallow almost any pretty rhetoric justifying the...
View ArticleThe key to success in Afghanistan: independence
Tweet Summary: The key ingredient for a foreign army’s success fighting an insurgency is independence. Building and supporting the local government’s legitimacy, with their people confident that the...
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“COIN of the Realm”– reviewing one of the books driving our strategy in the...
Tweet Summary: Before amnesia clouds our memories of Iraq and Afghanistan, as it has erased the lessons of Vietnam, we should review the books that guided us to the long disaster of serial...
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