Bouncing Betty

Theres a lady who's sure
All that glitters is gold
And she's buying a stairway to heaven
--Stairway to Heaven, Led Zeppelin

So, we were watching the strike [supposedly on Chemical Ali]
on the IR screen, and we see this body falling from the sky,
arms and legs splayed, and we see it bounce,
and we take bets on how many times it will bounce...
--You have to understand, the Army really does care
--Marc Garlasco, former Pentagon chief of high value targeting,
during NPR interview, 4/8/08
____________

Writing about Dexter got me thinking about appearances and reality and how murderous intent can be hidden behind a pretty face. This duplicity can be related to counterinsurgency strategy. Dexter works with the imprimatur of the police department, much as COIN is committed with that of the military.

After six years of COIN warfare in Afghansistan and five in Iraq, the Washington Post this week took on blog writer Phil Carter (who formerly wrote the private blog, intel-dump) to address the COIN operations of the U.S. government. Safe to say, the murder behind behind the pretty face will not be exposed in these entries.

What is COIN anyway and what are its objectives? The whole basis of COIN philosophy is legitimacy, and the premise of U.S. COIN operations is that they will lead to a democratization of and improvement in the lives of the local population. In reality, this is a lie.

The U.S. does not preemptively invade another country with the goal of improving the lives of the subjects of our occupation. COIN as currently practiced is a lie, and the local populations do not benefit from U.S. efforts and those of phony governments established via our largesse. It is doubtful that COIN benefits the welfare of the U.S. citizens, either. So why the charade?

We parrot our support of the troops as if at least that is a good. But even that is questionable. At best, it is usually a meaningless gesture.

How do we define "insurgency" in the context of COIN? Are insurgents evil? Bad men? Are they terrorists; nationalists? The assumption is the Lady Liberty supports COIN, but is this true?

COIN is a propaganda lie based upon an illegitimate war of aggression against nations that are neither good nor evil. They just happen to be rungs on the ladder to GWB's dreams of glory and God-filled fantasies. If COIN has legitimacy in this context, then the world has turned upside-down and the killers have become white-hatted heroes.

The objectives of COIN must benefit the citizens of the subject countries. If they do not, COIN is simply a con job perpetrated on the U.S. taxpayer.

If one examines the gulf between stated and applied U.S. COIN policy, it becomes clear that we are the problem and not the solution.

This view won't be coming to the WaPo anytime soon.