Peloni: With the recent report of the Israeli govt considering giving up control of the Philadelphia Corridor, this analysis becomes even more relevant.
When you only have a hammer. . .
by Will Selber & Bill Rogio | FDD | July 10, 2024
GENERAL DAVID PETRAEUS WAS ALL THE RAGE in the mid-2000s. No American general captured the public imagination in the way that he did, in part because he was one of the most prominent advocates of the strategy adopted to turn around the war in Iraq: population-centric counterinsurgency (COIN). For the better part of a decade, the COIN mantra “clear, hold, and build” echoed through the halls of the Pentagon and dominated the debate among the civilian leadership—and of Petraeus it could be said literally that he wrote the book on the subject.
David Galula, Lawrence of Arabia, and Edward Lansdale. The Anbar Awakening and the subsequent Sons of Iraq movement were the gold standard throughout the DoD. For a brief moment, Iraq seemed destined to succeed. However, President Barack Obama’s decision to withdraw U.S. forces in 2011 destroyed all that progress. Of note, General Petraeus did not publicly criticize President Obama’s decision. Less than three years later, the Islamic State captured Mosul and declared its caliphate. Ultimately, President Obama reversed course, sending American forces back to Iraq, where they remain today.
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