I think some visual record of enemy KIAs is needed, proof of the pudding so to speak. I've heard more than one person ask, " are they even fighting over there?" That's a valid question coming from civilians given our war history.Sad to say, there is the perception, though not by far prevailing, that our forces are just crusing around getting hit. You gave us Dresden and Hiroshima and 50K of our own killed at home in a couple of days at Gettysburg, never forget that. Shying away, as you phrase it, is nothing but a political trend, best theory practice currently in vogue since Viet Nam. COIN footage as I call it is not going to find an overly receptive audience on the homefront because for every clip of chatting it up with the locals all it takes is one media report of an IED or market bomb taking out X number of civians and the issue of a failed mission rears its ugly head again. Secondly, there are significant elements within our society that do not want to understand Iraqi culture and see no need for it and that feeling projects and transfers to a certain extent onto our military forces. It's the classic damned if you do, damned if you don't dilemma but as far as IO goes, if from the Gulf War on and amidst the hundreds of attacks against Western interests there has been no major step forward on the IO front, there simply isn't going to be. Best minds have been at it for how many years now? I further contend that the best IO possible is not going to diminish the prevalent American aggressor image in the Muslim world and the real need lies in convincing the homefront and the politicians of the worthiness of the war. You have to ask yourself, do the likes of Obama, Reid, Pelosi, H. Clinton, Murtha, etc. care one iota about COIN? I think not. A reasonably stable Iraq in 7-9 years is the only IO option there is for this war. Stand your ground and let the politicians know where you stand.