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interesting article. I would like to read more of Martin's writings but it appears his book is only in French. Being that my French reading skills have dwindled as of late, anyone know of the book in English?
I was once (amongst many times) denied a shot that would have no further implications other than a few dead TB's. I was pissed and when we arrived back at the TF I spoke my mind. I remember some jube Captain telling me I wasn't able to issue a verbal warning, nor show I was armed to the targets and therefore, outside COIN RoE's.... WANK! She stated, quite matter-of-factly that using fast movers was an audible and visual deterrent, providing an opportunity to the TB to cease their hostilities. ............... After I regained consciousness I stormed off and comfort ate the hell out of some Popeye's...
KineticFury , . ...A fair amount of the "success" of the Surge had to do with the fact that a number of the local faction leaders (with agendas entirely their own) launched attacks at many of the people that we were trying to hunt down... These people had been stepping on the toes of these factions... Getting hit "from the flank" as it were, definitely knocked the terrs off balance for a time, forcing them to fall back and regroup. . ...This did not mean that the Care Bears were now in charge, and Iraq would become a land of Peace, Love, and Humus... Events of late certainly indicate a tendency to spiral into new cycles of violence. . ...But the temporary results gave us a fig leaf to cover our later exit from the country. . -YP-
KineticFury Rec' +1 and your last sentence says it all "grand strategy in D.C. doesn't mean it works and/or boots on the ground are using it to success" ....6
"we totally nail that COIN thing" "Except we weren’t. At all." -- Thanks for putting that in there. Here's my take, as a civilian observer. The "surge" and "COIN" were the buzz words, because finally the media and anyone they interviewed politicians or military, had something to attribute progress to and finally had some kind of answer (if only theoretical) as to strategy and goals in Iraq and Afghanistan. I distinctly remember when the media began saying "the surge" in Iraq was a success, violence is down! Reason being is I went on vacation and while I was gone it had made total reversal. Since reading more and more about behind the scenes (in part due to SOFREP), you look at the "success of COIN" in Iraq and it's the same darn time night raids sky-rocketed in country. Our boys were busting doors and rolling back networks like Wal-Mart does prices. I can't really seem to articulate what I'm thinking, but in short, buzz terms and concepts like COIN are an easy place to attribute success to, whether deserving or not. Correlation is not causation, just because someone has a grand strategy in D.C. doesn't mean it works and/or boots on the ground are using it to success. Correct me if I'm wrong.