I can't decide if this is bald-faced blind parochialism or one of the most cynical things I have ever read. Did I read this wrong or did he actually marginalize the value winning the hearts and minds the populace and gaining intelligence on the ground? Either he knows absolutely nothing about COIN or he is hoping that his intended audience doesn't. It also it appears that he has drawn the wring conclusions from the Israeli experience in Lebanon. He appears to believe that Israeli reliance on a pure air response early on in the fight was a success despite all the evidence to the contrary. I expect this kind of thing from a fighter jock. I have no idea what his intent was.

SFC W