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The Debate Over COIN ... and the Future of the U.S. Army
I apologize for not writing on the blog this week. I have a lot of posts in my head but have been busy with other activities -- and writing for other websites.
Judah Grunstein of the World Politics Review commissioned a debate over the future of counterinsurgency and got responses from Steven Metz, Bing West, Michael Mazarr, and Starbuck. I contributed a piece arguing that the debate really misses the larger issue of what the hell our ground forces -- and especially our army -- are supposed to do.
Judah wryly noted that my article was itself textbook counterinsurgency: "Redefine the center of gravity (not COIN, but US Army); secure it from unnecessary collateral damage of kinetic ops; and construct narrative to encourage buy-in from on-the-fencers."
Anyway, I am always proud to participate in such debates, especially with other thinkers I very much admire. My article bears strong resemblance to a talk I gave earlier in the week at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York in which I did my best to occupy the middle ground on a panel discussion with Gian Gentile and Max Boot.
***
On another note, SEAL Team 6 is doing its very best to make the president immune to Republican attacks that he's Jimmy Carter. My analysis of the hostage rescue operation in Somalia can be read on the website of the BBC.
All you experts are off
All you experts are off subject. The US knows how to do COIN, we just spent four trillion doing it. JWest has more going on upstairs than most. I hear echos that the US military should not be used as peace corps in other author's comments. Just look at what is on the US's security dance card these days, we are one stupid bunch of Americans. When the US goes broke, I just hope the rest of the world is as generous as the US has been with protection. That will be the day that when the do-gooders wish they had not extincted the evil snake eaters and knuckle draggers.
You should be debating when COIN is appropriate. Like why a country would want to spend so much and kill off its youth for " put your social ideology here". I am still getting over Libya. The US is still doing COIN in Iraq we just call it 5,000 contractors and 11,000 diplomats. That would make a good "How many people does it " take joke. ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WweNuN1rfE )
On another note: When OBL was killed, the legislation that justified the WOT and the law that regulates war was used as justification for the legality of the killing. Those laws are specifically for combatants in a war zone. All of the WOT discussion is about those groups that support AQ and AQ themselves are legal targets.
OB1 just killed 9 kidnappers, no linkage to terrorism.
You better change the WH script and find a linkage. The kidnappers were not exactly a threat to American security. Anyone that walks around Somalia clearing land mines knows that they are on danger ground. Do we send in the troops when people waive their personal safety by their own chosen actions?
I think not. You would have a lot of silly people to save. Like the ones that wonder into N. Korea and Iran.
Were is the personal responsibility of these people? Are we suppose to jump off the cliff with them?
Nice article on Somalia. A
Nice article on Somalia. A good reminder that reading these things through the lens of who happens to be president at the time is a little off base.
Does the law change depending
Does the law change depending on who is President? Has the law changed for the WOT to include kidnappers not associated with 9/11 since OBL was killed?
This wasn't Granada, just kidnappers in their own country not even close to shipping lanes.
Where is the American national security problem connected to this case? Was terrorism involved?
BTW... We are getting back to the problem we had in 1993 where we misused our teams. You have to be careful how you use your DevGrps. Timing on this one was is too suspect.
If you are a US citizen
If you are a US citizen traveling or working in Somalia. (AKA you go, it is your skin....it is why the State Department posts these silly warnings)
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_5551.html
BTW.....If you did not see the warning or have not paid attention to the news for the last twenty years, well gee. Someone is going to go prime time saving your butt.
Something is wrong here.
It's hard to argue with Bing
It's hard to argue with Bing West on this issue. Should we therefore not even attempt to intervene, do COIN or nation-building unless we have, up front, control over who gets appointed to what local government positions? Events in both Iraq and Afghanistan seem to be moving along with less US involvement, and we should roll with those punches. Is a fractured Iraq worse than pre-invasion Iraq? Possibly so, but worse in different ways that may not matter all that much to US security interests -- it remains to be seen. (I for one am far from convinced that Shi'ite-dominated Iraq will become an Iranian satellite.
In Afghanistan we've hurt the Taliban and bolstered what used to be the "Northern Alliance" to the point (we hope) that they can play on a reasonably level field with the Taliban. A bad outcome? There are powerful local interests that want to see continued US support in parallel to deals cut with the Taliban, so it's far from certain that we have "lost" that war. Meanwhile humanitarian aid, like virtue, is its own reward, right? Sometimes all you can do is kick the can down the road.
So you halfwits think the
So you halfwits think the President needs some special authority to destroy the common enemies of all mankind (pirates) when an American citizen's life is in danger?
"Huh?" indeed.
If Obama notifies Congress within 48 hours that he took military action against the pirates, then the War Powers Resolution is satisfied. Congress would doubtless respond, "Well done, Mr. President."
I am no Obama fan but to criticize him for taking an action that was justified, necessary, and successful is preposterous. Terrorists are not the only bad guys in the world.
Of course our Forces should
Of course our Forces should be used to save our people. Bravo and shame on those who'd abandon them. Good job POTUS.
I'm sorry. Our special
I'm sorry. Our special operations forces are very capable and courageous but the Jessica Lynch mission was a glorified publicity stunt, the Linda Norgrove mission was an unmitigated disaster, and SF did a hell of job pissing of the Afghanis:
(http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/16/world/asia/16afghan.html?pagewanted=all)
Which leads me to my next point: Why all the love for Stan? Is it because he commanded JSOC when you were with the battalions? The guy doesn't strike me as particularly effective officer. I mean his former command was at JSOC and yet the units that caused him the most trouble as ISAF commander were JSOC units... He also got his ass fired for badmouthing the civilian leadership and arm-twisting the POTUS. Maybe he streamlined the shit out of JSOC, but judging from the results, he sucked.
Dr. Exum, I'm sorry, but I'm
Dr. Exum,
I'm sorry, but I'm inclined to agree with the above Visitor (JAN 31 1:25). Why the love for our SOF brethren? It seems a bit bias to me, considering your history (no disrespect intended).
"And as for training foreign militaries, such has been the distaste with which the U.S. Army has approached anything even resembling stability operations that no one aside from the Special Forces has seriously invested in the skills and capabilities required to do so."
You must be kidding me! SF, though historically trained and equipped for such low-intensity and FID-like missions, has absolutely dropped the ball on this one. VSO, although not a complete failure, is simply scaled down stability operations that conventional forces are executing. We have more capacity, more combat power, and more control to partner with and execute operations with District-level ANSF and District Sub-Governors. ODAs executing VSO are using a campaign plan framework based off of what BCTs and BN TFs are constructing. Nothing unconventional about it. Not to mention the fact that the 18X program and the current recruiting efforts of the SF community has completely gutted the maturity and competency needed for proper FID and low-intensity operations.
"Two mission areas are certain to see growth: direct-action special operations and security-force assistance."
While I agree that DA SOF is certain to grow and is a significant requirement, let us not dismiss the role that GP Forces can have with SFA. The SF community needs to rebuild itself and find it's niche again. They have become out of touch with reality and are in the midst of an identity crisis.
In closing, I have been a loyal follower of Abu Muqawama for several years and have valued your input and analysis (even pre-CNAS days) and the bias that you present towards our SOF is often too obvious. JSOC is a key to success in this operational environment. US SF is not. They have failed. They need to start from scratch.
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