At the risk of sounding like a stuck-record, and apologising upfront for what will be plain and unambiguous language, if there really are two opposing views, as suggested by the article, then it just goes to show what idiotic things, supposedly intelligent men can think and believe.

How does preparing to fight one type of enemy make you any less able to fight another type? If it does, the clear assumption is that you are too stupid to adapt.

I submit that their confusion is most probably based on believing in "types of conflict" and not "types of enemy." COIN means fighting against insurgents. It's not a type of conflict. It's a type of enemy!