Army, Marines Write New Field Manual (AP)

[Eugene]

Army, Marines Write New Field Manual
By PAULINE JELINEK
Associated Press Writer

October 5, 2006, 10:07 AM EDT

WASHINGTON -- Drawing on its successes and failures in Iraq,
the military has written a new counterinsurgency strategy
that emphasizes working with and protecting civilians, defense
officials said Thursday.

The Army and Marines have jointly written a new field manual
that is to provide commanders with a framework for thinking
about counterinsurgency missions -- explaining what they are,
what to expect and how to operate in such environments.

The new doctrine is scheduled to be completed this month,
two senior defense officials said Thursday.

The officials asked not to be identified by name because the
manual has not been released. But they said it stresses the
importance of work that troops are already trying to do,
with mixed success, in Iraq. That is, it emphasizes the
importance of nonmilitary solutions, such as promoting
economic development and making sure basic services are
restored as a way to deprive insurgents of support. It also
urges interaction with the population and standing up local
security forces as quickly as possible.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-pentagon-insurgencies,0,7848793.story

[Kagemusha]

1. So will this manual be completely disregarded like the last one?

Nonmilitary solutions work great when people aren't shooting at you. When people are shooting at you, training, not theories conveyed by the written word, take over. Besides, Army culture didn't exactly absorb the "weak" and "unproven" counterinsurgency ideas put forward in Vietnam against heavy Army resistance and never adopted in more than er, the "inkspots" from which the tactics take their name.

[LynnTheDem]

2. Not invading nations that weren't doing anything to anyone would be

a good place to start, one would think.

[Kagemusha]

3. You go to war with the politicians you have,

not the ones you wish you had.

Unfortunately.

[4bucksagallon]

4. Gee I hope this one is as good as the one we had about the ....

insurgency in Vietnam. That worked out well!!