Quote Originally Posted by SteveMetz View Post
That may be the outcome in Iraq but I think it's going to cause Vietnam-like political turmoil in the U.S. Because we see counterinsurgency as war and the American way of war is to win, not a cut a deal which allows the enemy to attain his objectives, there will be widespread discontent over such a deal. That's kind of what I'm getting at: that the way we conceptualize counterinsurgency creates unrealistic expectations. Then when those expectations aren't met, we just reject counterinsurgency for a period of time. Then we start the whole cycle over.
Again, I believe you are correct but I would say as Ken White has said that the problem is not just in COIN. It is in war in general as we use words like "victory" to describe expectations that often are not met. We have repeatedly marched off to war in expectations of victory and even when we "won" emerged at least partially disillusioned from the experience.

Best

Tom