[Snaquebite]

Interesting article....however it will be an uphill battle...conventional forces will never admit that they do not have the skills or training to accomplish what has to be done. To defeat this Islamist insurgency we must be able not only to track down and capture or kill hard-core terrorists but also to carry out civil affairs and information operations to win the “hearts and minds” of the great mass of uncommitted Muslims. Conventional units are not trained to do this and only accomplish this type of mission with the aid/attachment of SF/CA advisors. They are very good at eliminating top terrorists, once they have been found (Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s death); less good at finding them (Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri are still at large); and less skilled still at changing the conditions that breed terrorism in the first place. We are paying the price for this skills-deficit in places like Iraq where it has been difficult for a conventionally focused Army and Marine Corps—to say nothing of the Navy and Air Force—to pivot to counterinsurgency operations. The armed services, in particular the Army and Marine Corps, are now doing a better job of training for such missions—but not good enough. Making real progress, whether in Iraq or other locales, will require accomplishing much more difficult, less glamorous tasks such as establishing security, furthering economic and political development, and spreading the right information to win over the populace. Above all, it will require working with indigenous allies who must necessarily carry the bulk of the burden in this type of conflict. Native recruits have been key to America’s most successful counterinsurgencies. I would go on but I want to hear from others...this could be a very interesting thread.