There's been a tendency over the past week -- which I've engaged in as well -- to treat Maliki's comments as if they're a largely political story. But the Iraqi government's stated desire to see Americans set a date for withdrawal has implications far beyond the horserace. Rather, if you believe in the counterinsurgency doctrine Petraeus wrote -- as McCain claims he does, and as Petraeus certainly should -- then this changes everything. Counterinsurgency doctrine relies on political legitimacy: Bolstering the legitimacy of the government as the rightful authority within the state, and weakening that of the insurgency. The Iraqi government clearly see ejecting America as a crucial test of legitimacy. In an important article, Ilan Goldenberg explains more about what that means, and what implications it has four the rest of our counterinsurgency doctrine.Image used under a Creative Common's license from Ping Photostream.. MALIKI AND COUNTERINSURGENCY.
There's been a tendency over the past week -- which I've engaged in as well -- to treat Maliki's comments as if they're a largely political story. But the Iraqi government's stated desire to see Americans set a date for withdrawal has implications far beyond the horserace. Rather, if you believe in the counterinsurgency doctrine Petraeus wrote -- as McCain claims he does, and as Petraeus certainly should -- then this changes everything. Counterinsurgency doctrine relies on political legitimacy: Bolstering the legitimacy of the government as the rightful authority within the state, and weakening that of the insurgency. The Iraqi government clearly see ejecting America as a crucial test of legitimacy. In an important article, Ilan Goldenberg explains more about what that means, and what implications it has four the rest of our counterinsurgency doctrine.Image used under a Creative Common's license from Ping Photostream.. 
