Doctrinal COIN in One Pocket of Afghanistan

This NY Times article talks about one little slice of Afghanistan where a U.S. unit is actively practicing doctrinal COunterINsurgency (COIN): http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/01/world/asia/01jalrez.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp

Some of the keys to the piece are: that COIN involves full-spectrum operations -- it's not JUST about security, or economics, or the calming of ethnic tensions, but sort of an overall attitude towards the battlespace, i.e. it's 'construction, not reconstruction' as one quote puts it; that COIN is going to take time, and require patience (that's patience from all parties, to include the American voter/concerned citizen); and that while the average Afghan may not like seeing foreign troops in green uniforms walking around his neighborhood, it's way better than having Taliban death squads coming in and killing indiscriminately.

This is a neat piece. It's worth a read, and I certainly hope that it speaks to the way we'll operate as we "plus-up" our force numbers over the next year or so..