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    Council Member William F. Owen's Avatar
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    Just run through it once, but there are so many things wrong with this, I just do not know where to begin - Sorry to sound harsh, and if the author is out there PM me!

    I know this is .ppt and not a Thesis, so I can only react to the slides.

    a.) COIN principles? Why just accept they exist? They clearly do not - and there is no such thing as "COIN theory."
    b.) Definitions of COIN? - If you cannot get a clear and useful definition, that may tell you something - which is why current UK "COIN" Doctrine is poor.
    c.) The delineation of "Classical", ""re-classical," etc adds nothing and is without evidence. It's also highly selective. Irregular warfare has not changed! We have changed, for reasons that never get touched upon. - Context, context and context.
    d.) Instead of this "Purity of the text approach," - quotes from manuals and books - why was there no analysis of why UK "COIN" has previously succeeded and why it now seems less effective? - The UK used to solve the problem and there is no evidence the problem has changed in a way that makes it tactically unfeasible to render a strategic end state.

    The UK is not being operationally effective because it simply is not allocating the resources it needs to get the desired strategic end state.

    If the UK is screwing up, it's far more likely to be a problem with Commanders, than Doctrine - as no one actually seems to read the doctrine anyway - because it is mostly rubbish... with the exception of Theatre Specific guidance like the CATOM - which I could find no reference to?

    Yes the UK has lost it's way, because they gave up being good, not because the problem has changed.
    Last edited by William F. Owen; 02-23-2010 at 07:11 AM.
    Infinity Journal "I don't care if this works in practice. I want to see it work in theory!"

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