Are there fundamental differences between the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan?
Yes, and they are considerable. The first difference is the location and concentration of the population; this has a significant impact in classical counterinsurgency (COIN) focused on population protection. Iraq’s population is concentrated in a collection of key cities along the Tigris and Euphrates river valleys, and many of the cities most important to the insurgents were in and around Baghdad. Most areas beyond the river valleys are sparsely populated and possess little military significance in an urban counterinsurgency. By comparison, Afghanistan is physically bigger; its population is larger, more rural, and more dispersed; and its terrain is much more challenging. All of these factors imply a need for significantly greater numbers of forces and a much more complex logistics support system in Afghanistan than was the case in Iraq. Second, the basic “stabilization” problem is quite different. The challenge in Iraq is essentially one of rebuilding, whereas in Afghanistan it is on
