I think having the utility in in considering opposites is still useful. War/Counter-War, Insurgency/Counter-Insurgency, Conventional/Unconventional and Regular/Irregular are useful ways to think - as long as you don't constrain yourself to an either / or position. The key is to understand not only the characteristics that may indicate which side of a description the action is more akin to, but more importantly to try and understand the conditions and the environment in which they take place - the action(s) should not be divorced from the context of when and where they take place.

DoD will soon issue DoD directive 3000.08 on Irregular Warfare. I've seen the Draft (I think it is FOUO), and I think its good enough. It looks like 3000.08 may replace 3000.05. One of its best attributes is that it defines what is "regular" and what is "Irregular". This may seem trivial in some respects, but I think it can only really be appreciated in the context of the Joint, Inter-Agency and Multi-National environments where being able to converse using the same language turns so many other wheels. My opinion is 3000.08 is a better document then 3000.05, and shows we have a better sense of things maybe then we did in late 2005.

Best, Rob