This harkens back to the days when we went nuts with the rules in Vietnam, but I do find these two wars to be massively different from each other. For one thing, our troops are much more hardened against the enemy and can withstand a great deal more risk. But the enemy is not as elusive as they were in the thick forests and jungle of Vietnam, either.

The rules of engagement are drawn up by the military, work for a specific purpose and have safeguards built in to them to prevent the rules from becoming a noose. I will place my trust in McChrystal to do the right thing for the soldiers we’ve placed in his care.

Walter Lippmann

I believe that only one hand is needed to operate those drones. Key-in the co-ordinates, track the targets on the screen, then sit-back and choose the moment when to drop your finger onto the ‘confirm’ key. Even with one arm behind your back, you still have the advantage over the Afghans, as many of them have to run carrying children in both arms.

So, don’t fret, you still have the edge when it comes to ‘arms.’

COIN is very much different than the wars of my youth. (WWII, Korea, and even Vietnam,) Maximum firepower and maximum destruction do not defeat an enemy that can fade away from one place to another and has no allegiance to any sovereign power.

Unfortunately, it is a slow, bloody process that can tax the will of a democracy. The primary thing our leaders need to do is show citizens why the fight is necessary and why it will take so long. Otherwise support will be lost and then victory is impossible.

Afghanistan is a fourth-generation war where the enemy is so mobile and technologically empowered with cheap, portable explosives and small arms, he needn’t defend territory. And if he doesn’t need to defend territory, how can he be defeated?
The answer is as obvious as it is difficult to implement. The battle is for the hearts and minds, not for physical territory. So it’s a war that cannot be won by killing civilians, period.

Also, we cannot allow seditious mayhem to be endorsed inside our borders even in the name of religious freedom, or freedom of speech. We cannot excuse those who condone, harbor, or support radical islamists. The time for kind heartedness and rebuilding is after the foe is completely vanquished.