Tactical retreat
The American Prospect
by Matthew Yglesias
10/10/06
It lacks the sex appeal of the Mark Foley scandal, but the most important political news of October is probably the U.S. Army's decision to finally try and implement a proper counterinsurgency doctrine in its training and planning. The move is, in a sense, long overdue. The American military's ingrained preference for equipment-heavy conventional war fighting has long been a problem, and since 9/11 it's become positively crippling. On the other hand, the way the issue is being framed -- as a response to the lessons of Iraq -- makes me worry. The idea that we should look at the fiasco over there, roll up our sleeves, and write up some new manuals about how to avoid these mistakes in the future is part-and-parcel of the 'can do' American spirit that, in many ways, makes our country an appealing place. At the same time, that very spirit has very much been part of our problem in Iraq...
http://www.prospect.org/web/view-web.ww?id=12088
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
by Matthew Yglesias
10/10/06
It lacks the sex appeal of the Mark Foley scandal, but the most important political news of October is probably the U.S. Army's decision to finally try and implement a proper counterinsurgency doctrine in its training and planning. The move is, in a sense, long overdue. The American military's ingrained preference for equipment-heavy conventional war fighting has long been a problem, and since 9/11 it's become positively crippling. On the other hand, the way the issue is being framed -- as a response to the lessons of Iraq -- makes me worry. The idea that we should look at the fiasco over there, roll up our sleeves, and write up some new manuals about how to avoid these mistakes in the future is part-and-parcel of the 'can do' American spirit that, in many ways, makes our country an appealing place. At the same time, that very spirit has very much been part of our problem in Iraq...
http://www.prospect.org/web/view-web.ww?id=12088
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
rudkla - 11. Okt, 16:41
