Godless, cursing, whoring Marines don't necessarily make for good COIN ambassadors and implementers nor does marching into battle with a man bleeding and nailed to a cross inspire much respect in enemies and I am not trying to disparage Christianity here. It's sort of like taking the family to some foreign land for a visit, deciding to spend a day on the beach, arriving and finding that the locals all go to the beach naked - it just ain't easy under such circumstances to establish repoire and interaction. Technology certainly can't bridge the gap and fill the vacum and being respectful of another's spirituality in no way communicates that the other's beliefs are understood. Better training, unit cohesion, discipline, technology and logistics give us the edge but local support of an insurgency can check that advantage and a common denominator in that equasion is shared spirituality. It is an equalizer IMO. From a schematic view, the line dominates as it penetrates the circle and as it exits but it remains contained by 358 degrees of the circle at all times. Our linear orientation, from their perspective, is that of those with no Divine assistance penetrating those with Divine assistance, penetrating, not meeting.