Quote Originally Posted by Surferbeetle View Post
Iraq taught me about what the lack of functional infrastructure will do to a population. From my reading Afghanistan is a much woollier and wilder version than either Colorado or Iraq.
Steve, I think you have some great insight, but I want to add one caveat. Infrastructure does not in itself have much to do with insurgency other then how it is fought. What we saw in Iraq (I get to say we, I was there as well) was the lack of a previously existing infrastructure. That infrastructure has never existed in Afghanistan. Working on creating it is good because it is the right thing to do, not because it will win the "heart and minds". Defeating an insurgency is like defeating any enemy, restrict there freedom of movement, find there lines of communication and destroy them. This is why I prefer Wilf's principles of warfare to the Army ones, they apply across warfare spectrums. I hope my ramble makes sense.
Reed