Over at Abu Muqawama’s blog, Abu Muqawama and Gian Gentile got into a little argument over whether the army is becoming so involved in counterinsurgency that it is losing its ability to fight real wars. They also have differences on whether current counter insurgency doctrine is all that it is cracked up to be or not.

The real meat of the discussion took place in the comment section because Abu Muqawama comment section has been doing most of the heavy lifting lately.

Originally, I was not going to link to this argument because it is rather nerdy and I did not think anyone other than myself would be interested. But towards the end of the discussion a new commentator joined the fray who calls himself Looking Glass. I think his words are worth reading even for people who only have a general interest in what is going on over in Afghanistan.

If you don’t have time to read the whole thread, you can read what Looking Glass said here, here, and here.

The talk is jargon heavy, but it is based on real experience as Looking Glass’s last comment makes clear. More importantly, it is well argued.

I certainly had more sympathy for Gian Gentile’s viewpoint before reading Looking Glass’s comments than I do now. More to the point, I think I have a better appreciation for what is going wrong in Afghanistan. Especially after reading Looking Glass’s last comment.