COIN Collection

In late October the U.S. Army/Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Center will host a three-day leaders' workshop to look at COIN operations in the border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The title of the workshop: “What is counterinsurgency and how as a military, do we approach the problem.”

The Army’s Ft. Leavenworth, KS, will be the host site.

Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, was asked by The Los Angeles Times yesterday if there was too much focus on counterterrorism in the Afghanistan operation.

“I think there hasn't been enough focus on counterinsurgency,” he said. “I am certainly not in a position to criticize counterterrorism. But at this point in the war, in Afghanistan, it is most important to focus on almost classic counterinsurgency.”

The COIN workshop gets under way on Oct. 27 with a counterinsurgency overview and presentations on the insurgent environment and cultural competencies. Day two leads off with a presentation on COIN lessons learned from Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.

Day three will feature Philadelphia Inquirer foreign affairs columnist Trudy Rubin speaking on “Regional Developments.” That day, and the workshop, concludes with a panel discussion.