Counterinsurgency Insights by Tom Ricks

Counterinsurgency Insights by Tom Ricks

by Octavian Manea

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The US Army Organizational Culture before Emphasis on COIN:

What I saw in Iraq in 2003-06 was a US Army that was focused on destroying the enemy by killing or capturing him. The population was seen as the playing field, not the prize.

The Surge:

The surge achieved its military or tactical goal of improving security. But its stated goal was the larger, strategic one of creating a breathing space in which a political breakthrough could occur. The strategic rationale was to create a breathing space for Iraqi political leaders in which they could move forward. I think it is too early to tell if that really happened. But my gut feeling is that it didn’t.

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Counterinsurgency Insights by Tom Ricks by Octavian Manea (Editor of FP Romania, the Romanian edition of Foreign Policy).