Counterinsurgency by the Book
The lessons of a new Army Field Manual.
A debate has been raging in some circles over whether the war's disasters were avoidable or inevitable. Would a smarter U.S. strategy have produced a more stable Iraq? Or were the long-suppressed sectarian feuds destined to gush forth like a geyser, no matter how we tried to control them, once Saddam was blown from his throne?
A better question provoked by this new Army Field Manual: Should we follow the authors' advice in the hope of waging a better counterinsurgency the next time around? Or should we give up these sorts of wars as futile and—do what instead?
A version of this piece appears in the Sunday Outlook section of the Washington Post.
Steve Jobs’ Dream Device Has Arrived, and It's Made by Microsoft
Tornado Survivor Finds Her Missing Dog in the Rubble of Her Home During a TV Interview
Texas Judge Blocks Lesbian Couple From Living Together
Fred Kaplan is Slate's "War Stories" columnist and author of the book, The Insurgents: David Petraeus and the Plot to Change the American Way of War. He can be reached at war_stories@hotmail.com. Follow him on Twitter.
Photograph of Maj. Gen. David H. Petraeus by Joshua Hutcheson/Getty Images.