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Eating Soup with a Spoon
Title: Eating Soup with a Spoon
Author: Lt. Col. Gian P. Gentile
Date: September 2007
Bibliographic Entry: Gentile, Gian P. “Eating Soup with a Spoon”. Armed Forces Journal. September 2007. http://www.armedforcesjournal.com/2007/09/2786780 (Accessed Oct. 11, 2007).
Electronic Link: http://www.armedforcesjournal.com/2007/09/2786780
Key Words: counterinsurgency, FM 3-24
Summary of Key Issues, Points, Conclusions:
Lt. Col. Gentile, chief of the American division history department at West Point, argues that the new counterinsurgency (COIN) manual, FM 3-24, “removes a piece of reality of counterinsurgency warfare that is crucial for those trying to understand how to operate within it,” fighting. In the first chapter of FM 3-24, General Petraeus presents the “paradoxes” of COIN, which are intended to reframe our military’s mindset for the world of complex counterinsurgency operations. The author argues that these paradoxes actually do soldiers and Marines a disservice by making overly simple the reality of COIN warfare. By removing the fundamental reality of fighting from COIN warfare, the manual creates a problem of maintaining initiative, morale and offensive spirit among combat soldiers who will operate in a place such as Iraq.
Name of Researcher: Katie Stout
Institution: Integrative Center for Homeland Security, Texas A&M University
Date: Oct. 17, 2007