COIN Heresy:The More Troops We Have, the More Violence Grows
Hat tip to KoW and a provocative article by a completly unknown writer, with a very brief bio, with six embeds in Afghanistan and so IMHO the right to comment on COIN:http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/n...Violence_Grows
Taken from the start:
Quote:
Now is the right time to consider more radical points of view — including the most radical I know, that we ought to withdraw from Afghanistan precisely in order to enable the Afghans to defeat the Taliban.
This position used to be a fringe belief. It runs directly counter to the dogma of COIN that the more troops you put among the people, the more secure the people feel, and the more they will reject the insurgents. But it answers a doubt that has grown in my mind over the course of six embeds with American troops. I’ve observed that the more activity we undertake, the more SIGACTS (violent incidents) occur in a province or district. This in turn makes the locals doubtful about the benefits of an American presence.