Gates envisions fundamental shift in weapons spending. Do you agree with shifting focus to counter-insurgency and away from large-scale war?
Counterinsurgency is a shift in ideology not weapons.
COIN, or counterinsurgency, which unlike counterterrorism, includes political, economic, and psychological factors, a much more complex strategy based on solid governance combined with luring the population away from the insurgents and their misconstrued version of Islam. But the counterinsurgency applied to Afghanistan is heavy on military emphasis with little or no socio-economic framework, explaining why the NATO force McChrystal now leads has failed, and failed miserably. A successful counterinsurgency has to pay attention to security, local politics, and the socio-economic milieu. These elements work collectively. Ours is a comprehensive strategy only in designation. In practice it is a militarized strategy.
Marines will not switch to ATP batons, not as long as they’re in a war zone. Gates’ rhetoric is just that, rhetoric.
Alessandrob
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