Quote Originally Posted by Michael C View Post
.....one can see his embrace of the concepts of population-centric COIN. Joining CNAS, and supporting wise generals who see the efficacy of pop-centric COIN is almost predictable.
So what is POP-centric COIN? If it just means regurgitating the mantra of "protect the population," it is utterly meaningless, and profoundly stupid. Yes, there will be times when that needs to be done (Bosnia, Kosovo, Somalia etc.) To extrapolate that as a corner stone of so called "COIN," is intellectually lazy and poor guidance.

As far as I can see CNAS are actually part of the problem, and it is extremely debatable as to what actually did cause the reductions in violence in Iraq. The AL An-Bar Awakening is pure Colonial deal making or the oldest school. Nothing to do with the new-COIN crowd at all - though they are keen to take the credit.