Recently, Thomas Ricks of the Washington Post wrote an article regarding counterinsurgency operations in the Tal Afar region of Iraq. It was quite impressive detailing the significant gains made by the 3rd Armored Cavalry Division over the past year. While difficult to maintain in any large urban area (i.e. Baghdad), it does coincide with the "oil spot" counterinsurgency operations detailed within the pages of a recent issue of Foreign Affairs magazine.
Within the article, Ricks details the commanding General's attempts to retrain his soldiers to effectively beat an insurgency. Including community policing and language skills, Ricks explains that General HR McMaster has provided a reading list on counterinsurgency operations as well as Middle East history. It took some time, but I was able to come across this list on the Internet.
While I consider myself a pretty bright guy, this list is significantly more comprehensive than any college syllabus I have ever seen. I must say that I am significantly impressed. For those of you who believe our military consists of the poor and stupid of our nation, I would suggest you try some of this list on for size. It is located at http://www.carson.army.mil/UNITS/3RD%20ACR/Regimental%20Education.pdf. This is 7 pages of reading that could quite likely keep me busy for years.
It is also nice to see such great journalism still being produced by the establishment media.
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