Quote Originally Posted by Ken White View Post
Slap, if Warden said: "Pakistan is the real COG in the so called War on Terror." Then I disagree with him also.

These two strategists, baby boomers both, are thinking in erudite terms but they grew up during the Cold War and that's colored their perceptions. In this age, there are no centers of gravity -- there are hundreds if not thousands of them. We're back to Victorian-Edwardian era chaos. You can shut down Pakistan and another 'COG' will quickly replace it. The current terror problem is amorphous, worldwide and not conducive to Clausewitzian treatment. Trying to make it so only confuses the issues. We're dealing with a Starfish -- cut off an arm and it will grow a new one, slightly different in form...

Better to watch the Starfish you know than create a new one that you may not recognize or otherwise lose sight of.

You are right and Warden would agree with you and this is pointed out in the 5 rings analysis there are multiple COG's in a system. The answer he gave was in response to the question I asked him as in a comparsion between the two... Astan and Pstan which is the real COG. Bewteen the two I would say Pstan is the real COG...did I splain meself mo better this time

And my personal opinion Astan has a much greater potential to be a Vietnam then Iraq ever had.