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"... his (Gentile) attack on a specific operational concept misses the fundamental reason that counterinsurgency has failed to achieve its intended results."

"I believe the correct number is about 9,000 U.S. and 6,000 allied troops, for a total of about 15,000 allied trainers who would focus on mentoring, training, and advising."

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Many readers of this book will have heard (or said) that “doctrine is only a guide.” Indeed, the tactical agility demonstrated by the US Army on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan is due in no small part to a cultural imperative that prizes solutions above all else.

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"The American people should not accept a narrative suggesting that nation-building wars are worth fighting simply because they have been fought."

Via The Marine Corps Gazette: "... come join us from October 12-14th in Chicago to accelerate your ideas or learn how to accelerate them in the future."

"Until May 26, the assailant, if one were named, was referred to as an insurgent. Now, attackers are called "enemies of Afghanistan."

"It is clear that UW cannot 'belong' solely to one military force, nor even to the military alone.  It is a strategic mission that is an offensive option for policymakers and strategists."

"The Human Terrain System and its $250 million price tag for the year may provide an inviting target for budget cutters."

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"Will the murder conviction of a soldier who ordered his men to shoot unarmed Afghans last year improve the safety and success of US military operations in Afghanistan?"

"The Total Army – regular, Guard, and reserve – should be the product of realistic assessments of an uncertain world."

"These would be some significant changes - perhaps the largest amount of change at one time since the Unified Command Plan was established."

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NYT Op-Ed: "Afghans have a knack for the nonliteral. They value stories for reasons that have nothing to do with the practical information they contain."

Lawmakers Skeptical of Global Special Operations Plan by Paul McCleary, Defense News.

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Associated Press reports "U.S. law enforcement officials expressed outrage over the release from prison of Mexican drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero". AP and news links.

John Sopko, Watchdog for US Reconstruction Spending in Afghanistan, Battles Bureaucrats -"I didn’t take this job to be liked at the State Department or USAID or the Department of Defense."

So what kind of changes should be introduced in the overall force structure and what tradeoffs should be accepted in order to try to preserve the major tenets codified in the January 2012 DSG?

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Gen. Amos on Reinventing the Marines, Owning Sequester and Why COIN Is More Relevant Than Ever by Stephanie Gaskell, Defense One.

The Wrong Debate: Reflections on Counterinsurgency by Crispin Burke, War on the Rocks.