As usual, I have found the commentary over here to be extremely instructive. I’ve given much thought to the question of what exactly it would mean to shift the locus of COIN doctrine from the quasi-periodic space of Iraq to the chaotic domain of Afghanistan. I’ve found the (unsurprisingly) facile formulations of the Obama camp, with its unelaborated prescriptions for “sending in more troops” to be unnervingly unsatisfying.

While preserving the general principles of COIN doctrine, the specific applications to such a profoundly different AO as the Af-Pak theater will require such a level of sophistication and nuanced appreciation for the complexity of the battlespace that I shudder at the thought of the task falling to dilettantes.

I can only hope that the next occupant of the Oval Office will be canny enough to avail himself of the level of expertise and intelligence which is evident in the pages of this blog!