Quote Originally Posted by LS View Post
This suggests to me that external assistance cannot be doctrinally described as COIN... (it's a stretch I know...)
You are right in that would doctrinally be support to COIN, which is part of a larger U.S. FID program. You might have the military instrument of FID (direct, indirect, and combat) support COIN. If there is no HN goverment and U.S. forces are actually conducting COIN, it is not FID. No HN government, no FID.

Would we be better off with less terms and fewer concepts? Probably. Is that in the realm of the possible? No.