Lost Lessons of Counterinsurgency

[Cavguy]

Brief comment on "criminal negligence": Before writing this in draft on my wp, I did seriously search through MCM 2008 for all instances of negligence. The sole question was this - can I find a UCMJ provision under which I could mount a plausible prosecution (assuming arguendo that I could somehow determine which "someones" to prosecute). The answer is that there is not; not even under Art. 134. So, my unsolicited legal advice is to avoid charging "criminal negligence", at least publically. The rest of the facts should be powerful enough to carry your case - and, if not, hyperbole will not be of any help.

I didn't use "criminal negligence", however, I did use "gross professional negligence" here.

The full quote was:

I think it was gross professional negligence that we entered Iraq 2003 with no institutional foundation in COIN. It will be gross professional negligence if we face another conflict (after these have subsided and there is a chance to retrain) and aren't prepared conventionally either.

Your advice is appreciated and heeded. My words were not meant in a legal sense in any capacity, and perhaps I should have chosen with more care. I do consider it a form of malpractice - COIN is part of the spectrum of warfare, and we were largely ignorant of it, resulting in mistakes and errors that were avoidable, fueling an insurgency that cost lives before we re-learned that which was knowable. I think it would be inexcusable if we allowed it to happen again. However, I will try and restrain my inner voice a little better ....