COIN

the military may occasionally refer to it as the long war, but they don't often refer to it as the "war on [verb]"... mostly 'cause they can't get [verb] to hold still long enough to ask him to stop. no, the military knows it is fighting against an insurgency - i.e. a Counter Insurgency - or COIN for short - standing for Counter Insurgency OPerations.

while ceaser may have impressively stupid ideas of how to create and then drag out a war out for a hundred years or more - many of the best military and other thinkers outside the military - such as the iraq study group report - have done some much better thinking. some of that thinking is done at blogs like Abu Muqawama's COIN blog (he often blogs opposite the reputable Small Wars Journal but with an increased arab awarness. Abu Muqawama is almost a cross be SWJ and the Arabist, a renowned egyptian blogger).

recently, abu muqawama featured a gentlemen named Greg Mortenson, and his co-author David Olivier Relin who have written a book called: Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace...One School at a Time; an abject lesson on gaining influence in the world's most difficult and dangerous places. the whole article is really good (although the verbage may seem impressively hard to the uninitiated), but i wanted to include a quote here - just to blow your mind about what categories of stuff fit into where.

With due ceremony, Syed Abbas tilted back the lid of the box, withdrew a scroll of parchment wrapped in red ribbon, unfurled it, and revealed (Greg) Mortenson's future. "Dear Compassionate of the Poor," he translated from the elegant Farsi calligraphy, "our Holy Koran tells us all children should receive education, including our daughters and sisters. Your noble work follows the highest principles of Islam, to tend to the poor and sick. In the Holy Koran there is no law to prohibit an infidel from providing assistance to our Muslim brothers and sisters. Therefore," the decree concluded, "we direct all clerics in Pakistan to not interfere with your noble intentions. You have our permission, blessings, and prayers."

amen. and amen.

now that, my friends, is a blessing.

and it just so happens building schools for girls is sound counter insurgency strategy too. who knew the gospel and doing good for the poor could have such a clear voice in ceasers newest, uh, coin?