CT and COIN
 

EDIT: I'd like to withdraw this thread, as it's been pointed out to me that I've asked an inappropriate question.

Just a thought, but any responses you receive here probably will not be much help for you on your thesis. Exactly how would you credit your source?

Oh, this is for my own edification - nothing to do with my thesis.

Fred Kaplan has an article on the CT vs. COIN debate:
http://www.slate.com/id/2214726/

"The new element on the military side of Obama's strategy is the deployment of an additional 4,000 troops—the 4th brigade of the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division—for the sole purpose of training Afghan security forces. This is unusual. A combat brigade does not generally go to a war zone just to train the local forces. (Several senior Army officers don't like the idea at all.) The brigade will split up into small teams—of a dozen or so soldiers—each of which will be "partnered" with an Afghan unit, to train and "mentor" their forces in the field."

Hmm.

I seem to recall another unit which does that sort of work, and with similar numbers.

And I am not sure how well trained or qualified the 82nd is for that sort of work.

TR