Reconciliation and COIN in Afghanistan

[Rex Brynen]

I'll tell you what. I expect to see a significant uprising of Taliban fighting and killing AQ and Tehrik-i-Taliban when Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute or Cal Tech announces that pigs have learned to fly. Beyond that, if any significant uprising takes hold and drives AQ out of Afghanistan and Pakistan, I'll spread mayonnaise on my hat and take a picture of me eating it and post it on my web site with a caption that links to this discussion thread.

I hope you had fun with that, but it really doesn't pertain to the issue at hand. What is being suggested is that some of the Taliban's support can be peeled away.

It is hardly unusual to find former Taliban having switched sides—it happens literally every day, albeit often for murky reasons.

But that's COIN. Lots of murk.