No COINs in the Fountain

David Ignatius writes foreign affairs for the Washington Post. Here he writes about the Pentagon's reduced emphasis on counterinsurgency [COIN] by our military. This translates into reduced budgets for the Army and Marines.

The new thinking is that, in the future, we will not send huge armies to occupy countries. If there is trouble somewhere, we will send in small teams to kill the trouble-makers - think SEAL team, Special Forces A team, or maybe a drone strike. This tactic requires excellent target identification.

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I guess Mossad should feel flattered. The violent events currently happening in Iran are examples. In other words, forget COIN's "hearts and minds;" if the heart stops beating, the mind is irrelevant.